Save Your Life With Cord Blood
So what exactly is “cord blood” and what does it mean for you?
The simple answer is that cord blood stem cells could very well save the life of you or a loved one. Please read on
Cord blood comes from the umbilical cord and it is rich in stem cells, which are the building blocks of all of your organs. Saving cord blood guarantees that you will have genetically matched stem cells available in the chance that your child or another family member suffer from a treatable blood disorder or need to one day have bone marrow transplantation. Even people that are unrelated to the cord blood donor could possibly be a match.
Expectant parents are now deciding whether to store their baby”s umbilical cord blood for possible medical benefit later in life. The best way to look at cord blood is as an insurance policy. Not just for the baby but for the potential health benefit of parents, siblings, other family members or even complete strangers.
To date, cord blood stem cells have been used in over 7,000 cases to treat blood disorders, leukemia lymph gland disorders and some genetic diseases. Researchers believe that cord blood might one day be used to repair nerve or heart tissues damaged by Alzheimer”s, Parkinson”s disease, strokes and spinal cord injuries.
At present, Congress is enacting legislation that will create a national registry of cord blood donated by the parents of newborns, which has successfully been used in stem cell transplantation between strangers.
Right now, keeping cord blood stored in one of twenty or so private blood banks costs around $2,000 upfront and $100 a year to maintain it”s storage. Even with low monthly payment plans, banking cord blood can be relatively expensive. But that may change in the near future, as new systems are developed to maintain the banks.
Without a doubt, this technology is going to be the future of medicine. Many members of Congress strongly support banking cord blood “as long as people understand that they”re spending money on something we don”t have a complete answer for just yet.”
Medical experts generally agree that the parents coming to the decision on whether to bank or not should consider the three major factors: ethnicity, family history of disease, and current finances.
Keep in mind that minorities in need of bone marrow transplants often have a harder time finding genetic matches through donor programs because most of the holdings are from white donors. Cord blood stem cells would help persons that are genetically predisposed to certain medical ailments. Those people and interracial couples should try to bank privately or make arrangements to donate for the potential benefit of an anonymous recipient. Also, anyone who has had a relative go through a stem cell transplant or has a family history of auto immune disease or cancer would probably want the peace of mind of having cord blood on hand.
And for everyone else, the promising medicine of the future may yield even more uses for this type of stem cell so consider it as cheap insurance that ultimately may save the life of you, a loved one, or even a complete stranger. There are few reasons why one would not want to utilize this cutting edge science of cord blood stem cells. Now that you are armed with this information, you are encouraged to share it with friends and family so that modern science may possibly improve their lives in the not so distant future.
