Keith Brofsky/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Facebook may have provided a boost to organ donation in the United States since its donor registration button launched last year, but organs are still scarce, and about 18 people die every day as they wait on a transplant list, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Click here to learn how to use Facebook's "Share Life" tool.

But not all countries require that people who choose to donate organs register as organ donors at the Department of Motor Vehicles or online, as we do here.

Some countries have opt-out systems in which citizens are presumed organ donors unless they formally opt not to donate their organs when they die. Other countries even offer incentives such as payment for living kidney donations or preferred treatment for donors if they ever need to become a transplant recipient.

Read on to learn how organ donation practices differ around the world.

United States

Although there are more than 118,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list in the United States, only 8,143 underwent transplants from deceased donors in 2012, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which allocates organs as a result of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.

With its opt-in program, the United States has the fourth-highest organ donor rate, with 26 donors per million people in the population, according to data from the National Transplant Organization in Spain, which compiles organ donation rates annually.

The United States, however, leads the world in actual transplant rates, which Dr. Tom Mone, a past president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, says means doctors can use more of the organs they harvest.

"It's fair to say we're doing as well or better than anyone else," said Mone, who is now the CEO of One Legacy, a nonprofit organization focused on organ donation. "But we have such a large number of people and a very good chronic care system, so they can wait longer as the waiting list grows."

Registration is different in each state, and a few have proposed opt-out systems in which people are automatically assumed to be consenting donors unless they opt-out. However, this has never gotten far in state legislatures, said OPTN spokesman Joel Newman.

"Once these bills are introduced, concerns arise about individual rights, rights to make an individual decision," Newman said.

Colorado tried to get an opt-in law passed a few years ago, but the lawmaker who introduced the bill pulled it in 2011 because the reaction was so negative, according to the Denver Post.

Mone said about 75 percent of the people who are brain dead and could donate organs actually wind up donating them. That's not bad, considering that of all people who are eligible to donate blood, only 7 percent do so, he said.

"The bad news is even if they donated 100 percent of the time, we would not wipe out our list," he said.

Spain

Spain is widely considered the gold standard in organ donation because it has had the highest organ donation rate of any other country in the world, with 35.3 organ donors per million people.

Unlike the United States, which has an opt-in policy, Spain has an opt-out policy. But Mone said Spain still asks families whether they want to donate their loved ones' organs before they're harvested. As such, there's no true presumed consent program.

"While there are a number of European countries that have a law [for presumed consent], none of them have actually relied upon them," he said.

This week, top doctors and health officials reportedly visited Spain to learn more about how to improve their organ donation and transplant systems, according to the Spanish news site Local.

But not all opt-out programs are created equal, said Dr. James Lim, chief of transplant surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center.

"Look at places like Greece," he said, adding that Greece has an opt-out system but poorer organ donation rates. (It has 6.9 donors per million people in the population, according to the National Transplant Organization in Spain.)

He said a lot has to do with educating the public on how organ donation works, especially if it's new to the culture. Even in New Jersey, he said he's heard urban legends about organ transplants in which patients believe doctors want organ donors to die so they can harvest their organs. Those rumors simply aren't true, he said.

Israel

In Israel, there's a special incentive to donate organs: If you ever need an organ transplant, you'll be given priority as a recipient over someone who isn't a donor.

Mone said Israel has seen an uptick of organ donor registrants since the program was introduced a year ago, but it's too soon to tell whether the uptick resulted from the incentive.

"The results are preliminary but very promising," Mone said. "In the U.S., it's spurring good conversation."

Iran

Although the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 made it illegal to buy or sell organs in the United States, selling a kidney is legal in Iran and has been for more than a decade, said Mone.

The program has helped Iran keep up with its demand for kidneys, but the vast majority of people selling them are among the nation's poor. As a result, some of them have faced health problems from selling their kidneys, Mone said, citing a recent study.

"It's not as benign as one would hope it would be," said Mone.

Here are a few other countries' donation rates, in donors per million in the population, according to the National Transplant Organization, from Spain's report:

Spain: 35.3

Croatia: 34.4

Portugal: 28.1

United States: 26

France: 25

Norway: 24.5

United Kingdom: 17

Sweden: 15.5

Canada: 15.4

Australia: 14.9

Israel: 10.8

Ecuador: 2.2

This list doesn't include rates for all countries.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

(iStockphoto/ThinkstockWASHINGTON) -- Vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus appear to be working better than expected in the U.S. given the country’s dismal vaccination rates, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The HPV infection rate among girls between the ages of 14 and 19 dropped by 56 percent with the arrival of the vaccines Cervarix and Gardasil, a result the CDC calls “encouraging” given that two-thirds of teenage girls skipped all three recommended vaccine doses, according to the study.

A single dose of vaccine cut the risk of HPV infection by 82 percent, the study found.

“This is really exciting news,” said ABC News’ chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser, noting that it would be years before researchers could measure the impact of the vaccines on cancer rates. “The goal now has to be to increase vaccine coverage during those preteen years.”

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection, according to the CDC, with more than 40 different strains, some of which have been linked to cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, anus and throat in women, as well as penile and anal cancer in men.

All told, the virus has been implicated in more than 28,000 cancer cases each year, according to the CDC.

Here is the CDC’s breakdown:

• 12,000 cervical cancers
• 2,100 vulvar cancers
• 500 vaginal cancers
• 600 penile cancers
• 2,800 anal cancers in women
• 1,500 anal cancers in men
• 1,700 oropharyngeal cancers in women
• 6,700 oropharyngeal cancers in men

The agency said that up to 21,000 of those cancer cases could be prevented by the HPV vaccines, which are recommended for both boys and girls 11 and 12 years old, and given in three doses over six months.

“In order for the HPV vaccine to be effective, it has to be given before the virus is acquired,” said Besser. “That means giving it before people become sexually active.”

Despite the CDC recommendations, vaccination rates across the U.S. remain low, reaching just under 50 percent for teenage girls in 2010, according to the study, and that’s just for one dose.

“Our low vaccination rates represent 50,000 preventable tragedies,” CDC director Tom Skinner said in a statement, adding that Rwanda had a higher HPV vaccination rate than the U.S. “Fifty-thousand girls alive today will develop cervical cancer that would have been prevented if we had reached 80 percent vaccination rates, as Rwanda has. For every year we delay in doing so, another 4,400 women will develop cervical cancer.”

While a single dose of the HPV vaccines was found to cut the risk of HPV infection by 82 percent, clinical trials suggest the protection rises to 96 percent with all three doses. But the shots have been slow to catch on in the U.S., with some parents hesitant to take action against a sexually transmitted disease in their preteen kids.

“It’s hard for many parents to think about their children one day having sex, but taking this prevention step when kids are young can prevent a cancer when they are adults,” said Besser. “That is truly amazing.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Increasing numbers of women are marking special occasions such as bridal parties and big milestone birthdays by posing together scantily clad, the New York Post reports.

It’s female bonding on a whole new level, as in an 8×10 glossy photo, sometimes wearing little or nothing at all.

Kathleen Donohue of Red Bank, N.J., had her bridal party take portraits with her in their skivvies and white T-shirts.  

Amy Fence, 40, of Manahawkin, N.J., and Erica McCabe, 41, of Jackson, N.J., commemorated their girl trip to Atlantic City with a seductive $3,300 photo shoot in sexy loungewear.

And when Jen Zank, 37, of Middletown, N.J., was pregnant, she wanted some unique pictures but she didn’t want to go alone, so her best friends came along and all posed with her.

For bachelorette parties, birthdays, even disease or divorce, some women are flocking to photographers like Chris Lo Bue to capture their mojo or help get it back.

“Our clients range from women [who are] 28, about to get married, to 62, either celebrating something in life or having an issue in life,” Lo Bue, owner of Lo Boudoir Photography in Red Bank, N.J., told ABC News.

But how do you get women comfortable enough to take it off, or even bare it all?

One idea is hair and makeup sessions, which these photographers say go a long way.  But the women are also well pampered, and they’re encouraged to bring their own outfits so they’re comfortable.  There’s even airbrushing, if you want it.

Lo Bue says his clients leave his studio different women, and they have the pictures to prove it.

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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Leah Burke(NEW YORK) -- Ryan Burke was born with a misshapen head -- a common consequence of natural birth.  But when the lopsidedness lingered for three months, his parents got worried.

"His pediatrician recommended we go see a neurosurgeon," said Ryan's mom, Leah Burke, recalling the "terrifying" moment she heard her baby needed skull surgery.

Ryan was diagnosed with craniosynostosis, a birth defect that causes the bones of his skull to close prematurely.

"A baby's head is composed of different bones with spaces in between called sutures," said Dr. David Sandberg, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, explaining how the sutures allow space for a baby's growing brain.  "When the sutures close early, the brain keeps growing.  But it can't grow in the direction of the closed sutures, so the child's head becomes very lopsided."

Ryan had a fused lambdoid suture -- a joint that spans the back of the skull.  As his brain grew, his ears became lopsided.

"It will only get worse over time, not better," said Sandberg.  "And it's very difficult to correct when kids are older."

Leah dreaded the thought of surgery, but knew it was the right move.  The family decided to relocate temporarily from Oklahoma City to her hometown of Houston for the surgery, where they could be surrounded by family and friends.

"It's very, very scary to think about your little boy having to go through something so traumatic," she said, recalling through tears the moment the anesthesiologist sedated her baby boy.  "But at the same time, we would do whatever we had to do to make sure he had a normal life."

During the four-hour surgery, Sandberg removed pieces of Ryan's skull and put them back together "like a jigsaw puzzle," leaving room for his brain to grow.

"This kid is going to look fantastic," Sandberg said of the results.  "He's going to have a scar, but once his hair grows, you won't even be able to tell."

Ryan is back home in Oklahoma City recovering from the surgery, which took place on June 5. The bandages once wrapped tightly around his tiny head have been removed, revealing a long, wavy line of dissolvable stitches.

"This week things are starting to feel more normal," Leah said, describing how her son, who would never cry, sobbed after surgery.  "We're definitely still trying to get back in the swing of things."

On top of recovering from skull surgery, Ryan is cutting his first tooth, according to his mom.

"He's been great," she said, adding that Ryan will have to wear a helmet for at least three months to protect his pieced-together skull.  "I know he won't even remember it, but it will be nice to be past this."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Doctors have long known that the sooner a stroke is treated, the better the outcome.  But now a new study finds just how much each minute counts.

For each 15-minute head start doctors get on treating stroke, they cut the risk of stroke symptoms and death by 4 percent, according to the study of more than 58,300 ischemic stroke patients published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

What’s more, every 15 minutes also improves how you leave the hospital, with a 4 percent increased likelihood of walking out and a 3 percent increased chance of heading home instead of going to a rehab center or nursing home.

A stroke is a major reduction in the normal flow of blood to the brain.  A person dies from stroke every four minutes in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- that’s almost 130,000 Americans each year, making strokes one of the leading causes of death in the country. 

More than half of stroke survivors age 65 and older lose the ability to walk.

This new study is 30 times larger than the latest trials that evaluated stroke treatment, factoring in data from nearly 1,400 hospitals -- and not only large academic hospitals but community medical centers as well.  In other words, these findings are more likely to be what the average American experiences.

Study author Dr. Jeffrey Saver, director of UCLA’s Comprehensive Stroke Center, said it’s important to know that strokes are a treatable disease.

“Every minute that goes by without treatment, 2 million additional neurons are lost,” Saver said in an email.  “The demonstration of a substantial impact of even 15 minutes delay in starting treatment emphasizes the importance of the fastest possible evaluation and treatment of acute stroke patients.”

Stroke experts emphasize that it is important to act FAST to receive appropriate medical help.

“FAST, stands for the need to act quickly if there are problems with Face, Arm or Speech function and not to waste any Time doing so,” said Dr. Lee Schwamm, co-author of the study and vice chairman of neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

British author Virginia Woolf. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(NEW YORK) -- Vice, an online magazine known for its provocative take on the world, just unpublished a fashion photo spread called "Last Words," which had images of models reenacting some of literature's most famous suicides.

The portraits, which appeared online Monday, drew sharp condemnation from suicide prevention experts and feminists as "sick, sick stuff" for glorifying death scenes while attempting to sell designer clothing.

The magazine editors apologized "to anyone who was hurt or offended."

The edgy, youth-oriented site included the photo spread in its 2013 Fiction Issue, one devoted to female writers, photographers, illustrators, painters, and other contributors. It featured Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker (who only attempted suicide), Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sylvia Plath, novelist Sanmao and beat poet Elise Cowen.

The model portraying Plath kneels before a gas oven; Woolf wades into the water; Sanmao uses her tights to hang herself.

The images include cause and date of death, as well as captions for what each model is wearing: "Issa dress, Morgenthal Frederics glasses, Jenni Kayne shoes."

Vice editors, in a statement given to ABC News on Tuesday, said that their fashion spreads are "always unconventional and approached with an art editorial point-of-view rather than a typical fashion photo-editorial one."

"Our main goal is to create artful images, with the fashion message following, rather than leading. 'Last Words' was created in this tradition and focused on the demise of a set of writers whose lives we very much wish weren't cut tragically short, especially at their own hands," they said.

Michael Peck, a forensic psychologist from Los Angeles who spent years working in suicide prevention, told ABC News that the glamorization of suicide can "make the vulnerable more vulnerable."

He suggested the photo spread was a "ludicrous depiction of a serious subject and what it does is dull the sensitivity of people to a serious subject."

"Kids see enough shooting movies so that eventually things like Columbine are like, 'Yeah, OK.' They see this horror on TV and in the movies for years and years and killing people is just another thing," he said. "The media tends to make suicide that way."

When a prominent celebrity takes his or her life, those who are "on the brink of struggling" can be pushed to suicidal behavior, according to Peck.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Many who oppose high levels of Latino immigration argue that they don't assimilate fast enough because they have failed to learn English like prior waves of immigrants did.

However, a new series of studies reveal a different picture. Latinos are doing pretty well at learning English, especially when compared to many German immigrants of the 19th century, who were considerably slower to acquire the language.

The research, conducted by Joseph Salmons of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Miranda E. Wilkerson of Columbia College, indicates that a significant portion of second and third-generation descendants of immigrants in Wisconsin did not learn English, and spoke only German. The difference doesn't quite have to do with geographical isolation or lack of educational resources. It seems in such communities there was not as much of a cultural emphasis or need placed on learning English.

Today, 92 percent of the Latino second generation (children of immigrants) speak English "very well," and by the third generation nearly one hundred percent of Latinos are either English dominant or fully bilingual, according to a Pew study from last year.

In the late nineteenth century, in contrast, more than a third of all residents of Wisconsin were native German speakers, and in some counties, like Hustisford, Wisconsin, 35 percent of American-born (second generation) immigrants spoke only German.

Salmons says there are no Latino communities in the U.S. that mimic these patterns.

"I challenge anybody to show me a third generation person in this country who speaks Spanish and no English, whereas we can find in the Census records, we can find those people in German speaking communities," said Joseph Salmons, who studies language acquisition in immigrant communities. "Find me a place where you have a third of the community speaking only Spanish, and over half of them are born in the U.S. I don't believe it, and I don't know of any evidence to suggest as much."

Their findings are based on an analysis of Census data from 1910 as well as more qualitative research of community records.

Much like today, many in the 19th and early 20th centuries feared that immigrants would threaten the prosperity of the nation as a whole. Even founding father Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1753:

"Few of their children in the country learn English...The signs in our streets have inscriptions in both languages...Unless the stream of their importation could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all the advantages we have will not be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious."

But turns out, we were alright and today, more Americans say their ancestry traces back to Germany than to any other foreign nation.

Salmons believes looking at history is a good way to shape how we think about the present immigration debate.

"In a country like ours where immigration has been going on for hundreds of years, the rhetoric has remained almost the same for those hundreds of years," Salmons said.  "It's really useful for people to consider the history, even their own family's history, and their own community's history as they consider the current debate."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio