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Old age is not necessarily a barrier to kidney donation. A new study has found a kidney transplanted from a deceased 79-year-old can be as effective as one from a person 30 years younger. Generally, guidelines classify donors older than 50 as “extended criteria donors,” but shortages have led to using these donors more frequently. (Bakalar, 12/15)

Diana Teller never thought she was too old for anything, not scuba diving or traveling the world or taking Italian lessons late in life, her family recalled. So when the vivacious San Diego woman died last year at age 76 after a sudden brain hemorrhage, no one questioned whether she was too old to be an organ donor. “I guess I never really thought of her as her age,” said daughter Lori Teller, 57. “This was something she wanted to do.” Despite such convictions, donations from senior citizens like Teller — whose corneas, kidneys, liver and tissue were used — rarely happen. (Aleccia, 12/15)