Selena Gomez announced that she discreetly had a kidney transplant after suffering from Lupus. The kidney was generously given to her by her friend, actress Francia Raisa. This act of kindness on the part of Miss Raisa has inspired many people to take a new interest in selfless living kidney donation and people who are suffering from CKD as well as dialysis patients can and will benefit a lot from this.

This is great news for the more than one hundred thousand patients currently on the waiting list for kidney donation because Living Kidney Donation is usually a lot faster than waiting on a list. Also, it has been observed that those CKD patients that get their donation from living donors live an average of 10-15 years longer than those who get a transplanted kidney from a dead donor.

It is believed that with the level of light shed by the 25-year-old singer on the topic of kidney donation, we will begin to see more widespread motivation to aid kidney disease sufferers. This is especially welcome news, as kidney disease numbers are increasing and approximately 12 people die every day on average from kidney disease.

Many different organizations have cited increased donation rates shortly after Selena’s newsworthy Instagram post, “Living Kidney Donation,” went viral. 

One of the best things to come out of the tragedy of a kidney disease diagnosis, specifically in a celebrity, is the spike in attention toward CKD it generates. When more people are aware of kidney disease and the importance of organ donation, more lives can be saved and that is truly a remarkable thing.

For more of the latest news in the world of chronic kidney disease, please be sure to follow us on Social Media or take a look at our backlog of articles.