DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I and several family members are considering organ donation when we leave this earth.

No one in this neck of the woods seems to know the answers to my questions. Is there an age limit? If I live to be 90, can I still donate? I’m a former smoker. I quit almost seven years ago. Does this affect donation? If a person still smokes, can he or she donate? — J.G.

ANSWER: Your wish to donate is most laudable. The waiting list for organs grows longer every day. I hope others are inspired to share your desire to shorten those donor lists.

No age limit exists for donation. If you live to be 99, you can still volunteer for donation. Age is secondary to the person’s general health. Having been treated for cancer in the past five years before death, having AIDS, having been either a male or female prostitute and having injected drugs within five years of death are barriers to organ donation.

A current or past cigarette smoker can be a donor.

The Living Bank, www.livingbank.org or 800-528-2971, and the United Network for Organ Sharing, 888-894-6361, will answer other questions you or other potential donors might have.

A nearby hospital that performs organ transplants has an organ-donation department that you can consult for any specific state qualifications.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Is it 100 percent safe for a living person to sign her driver’s license signifying that she will donate her organs upon death? I have long believed that it makes sense to donate my organs to benefit other people when I die, but I have not signed my driver’s license to volunteer as a donor because I have a fear: My mom and I wonder if medical personnel would not do everything possible to save a potential donor’s life. Can you shed some light on this? — S.W.

ANSWER: The medical personnel working on accident victims, for example, have no idea if their patient is a potential donor. Even if they did, that would not influence their desire and obligation to provide the utmost care to that patient. Your fear has no foundation.

In addition to signing the driver’s license indicating the willingness to donate organs, people should inform relatives of their desire to donate. Hospital personnel will ask those relatives about donation and will follow what they indicate are your wishes.

Most states issue organ-donor cards. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides information on every state’s official site for registering potential donors. You can find this information at www.organdonor.gov. You can find contact information for individual state’s donor-registration offices at www.organdonor.gov/stateMap.asp.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband was told he had prostate cancer in 2010 and had his prostate removed in November of that year. Now his doctor wants him to have PSA testing. He says he might need radiation because he has prostate cancer. If he has no prostate gland, how can he have prostate cancer? — D.R.

ANSWER: The doctor wants to be sure that cancer cells did not spread from his prostate gland to other body sites. Even though the gland was completely removed, not all the potential sites for cancer spread were removed. That’s all but impossible to do.

The PSA test will show if prostate cancer is active in those other places. If it is, then further treatment is required.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.

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