Archive for the ‘Cord Blood’ Category
Benefits of cord blood
Saturday, August 27th, 2011In this second article of cord blood, we will take a look at what are the benefits of cord blood. If you have missed out first article, you can read it here: what is cord blood.
The interest in cord blood came about due to the fact that it can be used as part of a life saving treatment for not only the child but for the rest of your family members as well. According to research done titled “Lifetime probabilities of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the U.S”, the chances of a person needing a stem cell transplant is around 1 in 2,700 when he or she is at the age of 21. However, that number increases significantly to 1 in 217 when the person reaches the age of 70. Given these chances, it highly beneficial to the person if he or she has cord blood being banked and stored until the date that he or she need it.
The power of using your own cord blood for stem cell transplant is that there is zero chance of any rejection by the body since the stem cells originated from the person itself.
In addition, there is also a higher chance of family members being able to use the cord blood since they are family members. However, before any actual stem cell transplant, family member need to go for a medical check up to assess what the chances of their bodies accepting the stem cell transplant. We hope this has helped to answer the question of “can cord blood be used for siblings” or “can cord blood be used for parents or grandparents”.
Besides the above, one of the strongest benefit of storing cord blood is that it might lead to cures for diseases that have no cures today. The current research is looking at the possibility of using stem cells for regenerative medicine that is able to heal and repair cell damages. If done successfully, it means stem cells can be a possible cures for diseases such as brain injury and juvenile diabetes. Currently, these clinical trials require cord blood to be used.
Clinical trials for the treatment of brain injuries using stem cells can be found at the Medical College of Georgia. See: Safety and Effectiveness of Cord Blood Stem Cell Infusion for the Treatment of Cerebral Palsy in Children; Medical College of Georgia.
Clinical trials for juvenile diabetes can be found at the University of Florida: See “Cord Blood Infusion Plus Vitamin D and Omega 3 Fatty Acid Supplementation to Preserve Beta Cells in Children With Recent Onset Type 1 Diabetes; University of Florida”
Through this article, we hope you can see the benefits of storing cord blood.
