How Important Is The Umbilical Cord Blood?
By Apurva Shree
February 02, 2008
Cord blood is the blood that is extracted from the umbilical cord and
the placenta immediately after the delivery of the baby. Very few
people even today know that the umbilical cord and the placenta that
are thrown away as waste actually harbor life saving cells. Freedom
from a huge number of diseases is provided by nature as soon as we
are born! Stem cells are the architects of the human body, with the
capability of creating new blood cells, brain cells, etc. The
specialty of the stem cells lies in their ability to multiple several
times and creates whichever cell the body needs.
This type of banking is increasing in popularity over the past few
years. Two types of banks specialize in collection and preservation-
public bank and the private bank. Public banking services are free.
Here, you can preserve your child´s stem cells. However, one
important point here is that here, you are assured of a unit of cord
blood unit when required. It may not necessarily be your unit. It is
highly likely that if your unit of blood is a perfect match for a
little 5 year old residing on the other side of the country, he will
be given preference, provided you are not in need of it in the near
future. If you plan to preserve the blood, specifically for your
family, you will be unable to do so in a public bank. Private banks
are expensive. Nevertheless, here you can preserve the stem cells
just for your family use.
More than 70 diseases can be treated with its help. Some of them are
Aplastic Anemia (Severe), Beta Thalassemia Major, Sickle Cell
Disease, Hemophagocytosis, Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich
Syndrome, Krabbe Disease, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, Hodgkin's
Lymphoma, DiGeorge Syndrome, Osteopetrosis, etc.
The Debate….Continues
Why do we need to preserve the cord blood? Bone marrow stem cells
should be enough. Well, there are still debates on this issue. There
is one point that everyone agrees with. That is, umbilical cord blood
has more stem cells than the bone marrow does. On the other hand,
unlike the cord blood, adult donor blood is not limited by quantity.
However, stem cells are more flexible, compared to the bone marrow
cells. Very rarely is it seen that a patient´s body has rejected the
cord blood stem cells. Stem cells for the umbilical cord and the
placenta can easily be multiplied in the laboratories for multiple
uses. In fact, it is saved in such a way, that a portion of the blood
is ready for immediate use. And the other part can be extensively
used for stem cell cultivation. Another argument in favor of stem
cells preservation is that, it can be used by your other siblings
too. They do not have to wait for an ideal donor for the perfect
match and multiple extractions, if required. Treatment can be started
as soon as possible.
Cord blood banking is a recent phenomenon. It is a wonder of science
wherein the stem cells are preserved in the form of cord blood. A
Public cord blood bank is unlike a private cord blood bank. It
provides free service however; your stored cord blood can be used for
another patient as well. For more information visit pregnancy.
http://www.american
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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