A recent study of U.S. health news has Great news for anybody looking for a kidney; awaiting a transplant might have just become slightly less difficult.

At this time, as outlined by a study by U.S. Health News, the actual transplant waiting list is continuing to grow to in excess of 100,000 sufferers. This number keeps growing, as countless numbers more and more people a year are will need a transplant to carry on their life. Nevertheless, new research shows that a few injured kidneys may still be suited to transplant. This might permit more and more people accessibility to the transplants that they so faithfully need.

This news could not have come at a better time. Right now, 5,000 people die each year while waiting for a kidney. In addition, the median time it takes for an adult to receive a transplant in the United States increased from 2.7 to 4.2 years between 1998 and 2008. Traditionally, kidneys that are received in an injured state are often discarded. This is because many fear they could cause potential problems. Researchers in the study, who tracked kidneys from more than 1,600 deceased donors, found an association between acute kidney injury and kidneys being discarded in addition to link between injured kidneys and a condition called “delayed graft function” (DGF), which means the patient requires continued dialysis support in the first week after transplantation.

However, they also found that some of those post-surgical issues may fade. In fact, the patients who received injured kidneys did not show higher risk for poor kidney function six months after their transplant. Furthermore, kidney function six months after transplant was worse for patients with DGF who received a kidney with no apparent injury, compared to those who got an injured kidney. This revelas that injured kidneys may be ok for transplant. Though the reasons are currently unknown, one possible reason for the finding is that while still in their donors, the injured kidneys may have developed a mechanism to protect themselves from the effects of further injury.