Medical Issues

Two Types of Transplant Surgery

-One uses organs from a dead person

-The other uses organs from a living person

Kidney Donation:

-As we have two kidney's, we can lead a life with one, making it possible to donate one whilst alive.

-The person in the UK with the longest-living transplant is still leading a normal active life more than 40 years later.

Heart Donation:

-Around 150 tarnsplants are carried out in teh UK each year.

-A heart pumps blood around your body. It's about the size of a closed fist.

-It has been estimated that transplants could save over 4000 extra lives a year.

-It is a proven method of caring life threatening disease such as kidney malfunction. It also improves people's lives for example giving sight to the blind.

-The number of people needing transplant surgery rises by 8 per cent each year so transplants are an important part of health provision.

-Transplant surgery is a proven and efficent way of bringing life out of death. It gives people a chance to help others after their death, rather than their organs simply being wasted.

Not agree with transplants at all:

-They believe that transplanting organs could be deemed as 'playing God'.

-It diverts resources from prevention which could improve the lives of more people than a single transplant.

-It raises the quetsion of when someone is dead because in the case of heart transplants, the heart has to be removed before it stops betaing.

-They believe that transplants could discard the sanctity of life- will surgeons who are desperate for an organ work to their best of ability to save the life of a potential donor?

Christains disagreeing with transplants from dead people but agree with living relatives:

-There is a risk of exploiting the poor, as many individuals will sell a kidney in order to feed family.

-Organs that can be used from the living are not vital and so can be used to obey Jesus' command to love thy neighbour.

-Many christians believ that organs such as the heart are a key part of the individual who has been created by God, therefore we do not have the right to temper.

For  Transplant Surgery:

-Many Muslims would allow living donor transplants if the donor is a close relative.

-Some Muslims believe that saving one life is like saving all of mankind.

-The Shari'ah Council has ruled that Muslims may carry donor cards as a means to help someone in pain and save lives.

Against Transplant Surgery:

-Some Muslims believe that it violates the Sanctity of Life, and only Allah has the right to give and take  it away.

-The Qur'an teaches that the body should not be interefered with after death and should be buried as soon as possible.

-Muslims believe that on the Last Day, the body will be resurrected and therefore all the organs will be needed.

IVF=In vitro fertilisation is a process where egg cells are fertilized by sperm outside of the body.

IVF is often used for couples that are infertile. This could be because not enough sprem or eggs are produced or a woman's egg tubes blocked.

Often more than one embryo is put into the mother's uterus; this means that people who have IVF can often have twins or even triplets.

Embryos can be frozen and used at a later date.

Artificial Insemination by Donor(AID): You take the sperm from a donor and fertilise this with the biological woman's egg.

Artificial Insemination by Husband(AID): Your husband's sperm is implanted directly into the uterus to avoid problems that happen when it enters the woman after sex.

Surrogacy: A woman can agree to carry your baby. Your partner's sperm is used to fertilise her egg and she hands the baby over after birth.

2 Causes of Infertility in Women:

-Lack of regular ovulation which is a lack in the monthly release of an egg.

-Endometrosis is when tissue behanves like the living of the womb is on the outside of the womb.

2 Causes of Infertility in Men:

-Poor quality semen.

-An infection of your testicles and testicular cancer.

Some Christian Churches such as the Church of England will allow IVF and AIH because:

-The point of IVF is to produce children for childless couples not kill embryos.

-It is good to provide couples with the joy of children and having children is one of the purposes for Christian marriage.

-In the Good Samaritan it said to help everyone who needs it.

-It will not be adultery by AIH as the sperm is from the husband.

The Catholic Church will not allow any form of medical treatments for infertility because:

-Fertilisation is involved an Catholics believe that God intended procreation to be part of the sex act.

-Embryo's are holy and should not be destroyed.

-It involves masturbation by the male which is a sin for Catholics.

-Some eggs are thrown away in the process after being fertilised which is like abortion.

-They believe 'the intrasion of a person other than a couple...are gravely immoral'.(against God)

Some Islamic Lawyers have banned all types because:

-It is important to Islam that children know their parents.

-Egg/sperm donation is a form of adultery.

-Egg/sperm donation is a form of adoption which is banned in Islam.

Most reasons for infertility treatments in Islam is similar to the reasons in Christianity however only certian medications and treatments are accepted.

Artifical Insemination by Husband is acceptable for many

BUT Artifical Insemination is forbidden because donor isn't married to the woman. Qur'an makes it clear everyone has the right to a lineage (family identity) that AID/egg donation don't provide.

Surrogacy-requires man's sperm to be put into woman he's not married to, not permitted because it upsets lineage.

Adoption-encouraged to care for orphans/abandoned children. Muhammad was an orphan and cared for the orphan Zayd within his own family. There is no legal adoption process though because they think it's wrong for a child to have identity of adoptive family

Global Warming:The increase in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere (thought to be caused by the greenhouse effect)

Environment:The surroundings in which plants and animals live in and on which they depend to live.

Alternative ways of creating electricity: wind power, sea power, hydroelectric power and solar power.

Car manufacturers use ethanol, biodiesel, batteries and hydrogen to power cars with using as little of pollution as possible.

Types of pollution: Acid Rain, Human Waste, Eutrophication, Radioactive Pollution

The teachings of Islam on stewardship:

-All Muslims are God's kahlifahs and have to look after the Earth.

-Muslims believe that God created Adam as his first khalifah.

-All humans are part of the Ummah.

-Those who have polluted the Earth will not be allowed into heaven.

-Muslims believ life is a test which they willl be judged upon.

-There will be a day of Judgement when all people will be questioned on how they have looked after the Earth.

Christian Teachings on the Environment:

-In Genesis God gave humans the right to rule over the Earth.

-Jesus taught that Christains have a responsibility to share the Earth's resources fairly.

-The Bible makes it clear that there will be a judgement day at the end of the world. Most Christians believe they will be judged on how they fulfilled their duty as stewards of the Earth.

-As stewards they ahve a responsibility to reduce pollution and preserve resources for futur generations.

-The Parable of The Talents-We must have a responsibilty to improve the Earth for ourselves and others. We must make sure we leave the Earth in a better place than we found it. Pass onto the next genereation more than they have been given.

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