Kidney donation is a profound act of giving. And it’s not for everybody.

Potential donors are screened carefully and accepted only if they seem healthy enough to tolerate surgery and get along with just one kidney.

This organ’s blood-filtering ability declines with age, and older people used to be ruled out automatically as donors. The risk was considered too great.

But the need for kidney donations has increased, and transplant centers have become more willing to accept older donors.

In 2002, only 8 percent of U-S kidney donors were 55 and over. By 2009, the figure had increased to 14 percent.

Moreover, a study published recently by the American Journal of Transplantation indicates that seniors who donate kidneys don’t necessarily die earlier.

The study tracked almost thirty-four-hundred kidney donors, ages 55 and up. They were identified through a national registry and followed for years after donating.

For comparison purposes, each donor was paired with a person who had not donated a kidney.

They were taken from a list of patients in a long-term, national health study and carefully matched to the donors on the basis of demographic factors and health status.

By tracking each pair, the researchers could gauge whether kidney donation affected life span.

On average, the follow-up lasted about eight years. The results showed no significant difference in the mortality rates of kidney donors and their counterparts.

Experts say a longer study will be necessary to be conclusive. But this could be great news for seniors who’d like to help a relative, a friend or even a stranger with the gift of life.

But we should add a cautionary note — this study doesn’t prove that losing a kidney is no big deal.

As with all vital organs, we need to take good care of our kidneys, because we need them to take care of us.