Pros and Cons of Stem Cells Banks

You have heard from stem cells’ experts that it is important to preserve a newborn’s cord. They recommend banking the amniotic fluid stem cells and umbilical cord blood since these fluids have a lot of stem cells. This is essential as both types of stem cells are beneficial for treating multiple chronic diseases, including the immune system, blood, and cancer diseases. It is crucial because all these diseases affect the body’s ability to defend itself from subsequent injuries or damages, thus triggering a process of significant degeneration to the rest of the body’s system. So, the experts have created numerous stem cells banks such as direct-donation banks, private cord banks, and public cord banks. In this post, we will discuss a few pros and cons of stem cells banks.ProsA crucial advantage of stem cell banking – from newborn’s amniotic fluid and cord blood, experts, can extract ten times more stem cells than from the baby’s bone marrow. This is vital considering few diseases need a significant amount of stem cells for proper treatment; stem cells obtained from a single bone marrow aspiration will not be enough.Another pro of amniotic fluid stem cells and cord blood is this type of stem cell rarely carries infectious diseases and is less prone to triggering a rejection response than adult stem cells. Study shows that people undergoing stem cell transplants have a lesser chance of complications if the donor is a relative. Moreover, it is easy to obtain cord blood stem cells. After the birth, the doctor will clamp and cut the umbilical cord. The doctor will then be inserting a needle through an extreme of the umbilical cord for obtaining 40 millilitres or more, which has to be sealed, sent, and processed in a special lab before banking. After the cut, the umbilical cord blood is a non-invasive and painless process for the baby and mother.ConsIn some cases, even though the amniotic fluid stem cells and blood cord are adequately stored in the stem cells banks, they cannot be used when the disease that is to be treated is caused due to genetic mutation, as the stem cells will have this mutation too.Another disadvantage is once they are stored, they can only be used during the next 15 years, and if a person develops disease after this time, the stem cells will not be useful anymore. This is the primary reason medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommend the amniotic fluid stem cells and cord blood banking when a parent or a sibling of the newborn has any medical condition that can be controlled or treated with those stem cells, not as a routine procedure.Many researchers believe that once the stem cells are frozen, they die, and storage is not recommended. But this study is controversial as more studies are required to come to a valid conclusion.