Some Insights about Stem Sell Therapy

Should you bank your baby's umbilical cord blood?

There are many expecting parents who have a lot of questions about banking their baby’s umbilical cord blood. Before you think of doing so, you should a little more about its benefits. Umbilical cord blood is said to be a very useful source of stem cells used for the eradication of harmful diseases and cancers related to the blood of a human being. Its therapeutic uses have encouraged the technique of Stem Cell Therapy.

Umbilical cord is the cord that connects the developing embryo to the placenta. The cord blood is rich in stem cells. These cord blood cells can also be useful for bone marrow transplant. It is useful to bank a new born baby's cord blood as it can be very useful for donation to people suffering from life threatening blood diseases.

Cord blood transplant:

The usage of cord blood transplantation has been growing for people of all age groups. A cord blood unit has a large number of stem cells. Stem Cell Therapy has the following advantages:

1)      There is a close matching between the patient and the cord blood donor. This can improve the condition of the receiver after the transfusion.

2)      The availability of cord blood is quick. Units of cord blood are stored readily and safely. A unit can be donated to private as well as public cord blood storage banks.

3)      Less graft versus host disease: The probability of the patient attracting diseases due to the new cells in lesser in cord blood transplant. GVHD can range from mild to life threatening diseases as well.

4)      It is a rich source of stem cells. Stem cell transplant leads to greater resistance to diseases in the human body. Also these stem cells are younger and are more likely to have regeneration capacity.

Umbilical cord blood banking:

Cord blood bank facility is readily available for future usage. Private and public cord blood banks have developed over the years. Public banks accept donations of cord blood for use by needy patients. The medical community supports public cord blood banking.

The cord is first clamped and then the blood is collected before the delivery of the placenta. A bag is used to collect the blood which is sterile and is given a particular number for identifying it easily. The unit is then transported to a bank after checking that the stem cell count in the blood is enough. The blood is kept in liquid nitrogen which serves the purpose of a very low temperature.

You can visit various websites available on the internet to collect and store a unit of umbilical cord blood. There is a list of private cord blood banks maintained for helping you with the necessary donations and funds to the needy people. These organizations are definitely doing a great work by helping families to restore their health. Future cord blood transplant is easy with the functioning of stem cell banks.