Cord Blood in Modern Medicine Cord blood researchers first discovered the power of umbilical cord blood stem cells in the late 1980’s. In 1988, cord blood could be used to treat one disease. By the year 2007, that number had expanded to 40 diseases treatable by family cord blood services. Research advanced rapidly in the years that followed, with the number of diseases that cord blood is capable of treating doubling. Cord blood stem cells are now able to treat more than 80 diseases, which is a solid reason why you should save baby cord blood. Cord blood banking is changing modern medicine because doctors now have new, viable treatment options for more than 80 diseases, which have proven to be successful in numerous cases. Saving cord blood greatly increases the chances that your child will receive treatment should they contract one of the diseases that are known to be treated with cord blood stem cell therapies. Over the past few decades, more than 35,000 transplants have been successful. Not everyone is aware of the valuable potential of cord blood stem cells, which is why many expecting parents do not make the smart decision to preserve their newborn’s cells. Some parents are not even aware that cord blood banking exists at all, which is why we seek to raise awareness of the great potential it offers. What is cord blood? Cord blood is the blood that circulates from the fetus to the placenta via the umbilical vein. It is the blood left in the umbilical vein and placenta after the baby is born and the cord is cut. This cord blood is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells. Enrolment Process
The collection process Umbilical cord blood collection has been carried out for over two decades. The procedure is done only after the baby has been delivered and the umbilical cord clamped and cut. It is non-invasive and painless
for the mother and baby. After the baby is delivered, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut. While waiting for the placenta to be delivered, the residual umbilical cord blood is collected from the umbilical vein. This takes a few minutes. Cord blood collection is completed when the placenta is expelled. A sample of maternal blood is collected concurrently for evaluation of infectious diseases. This procedure is necessary to ensure that all cord blood units collected are free of any potentially transmissible disease and is safe for a cord blood transplant Advantages of cord blood
Cord blood can be made available more quickly than bone marrow or peripheral stem cells. There is no need for preparatory regimens required for harvesting peripheral blood from a donor or the painful procedure of obtaining stem cells from a donor’s bone marrow. It does not require commitment from potential donors and there is no donor attrition. Cord blood harvesting also holds little risk to the maternal or infant donor as the cord blood is collected only after the delivery of the baby. It is obtained from the umbilicus vein connected to the placenta and not from the baby. Cord blood carries less risk of transmission of blood-borne infectious disease. It is transplantable across human leucocyte antigen (HLA) barriers with less risk of graft-versus-host disease compared with similarly mismatched stem cells from the peripheral blood or bone marrow of related or unrelated donors.
Types of cord blood transplants Cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells that can be used for HSCT. There are 2 modes of treatment: 1) Allogeneic - patient receives stem cells from a matching donor, either a sibling or an unrelated donor; 2) Autologous - patient receives their own stem cells. In many instances, a patient’s own cord blood is unusable for transplantation because precursors of the patient’s disease (eg leukemia) may be present in the cord blood. Cord blood transplantation has made significant progress over the last 3 decades and might, in future, provide a suitable alternative to conventional HSC transplantation when HLA-matched sibling or unrelated donors are not available. The results from ongoing trials might also help better inform us if cord blood transplantation might be a management option in disorders mentioned as above.
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