CORD BLOOD: Banking For Life

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Pharmeceutical-Medical )



PRECIOUS STEM CELLS

A fairly new concept in medicine is cord blood. Cord blood is the remaining blood in the placenta and your baby’s umbilical cord. The value of cord blood lies in its profuse concentration of “stem cells” – undifferentiated cells from which all body cells develop.

Stem cells exist in the body, not just in cord blood. But cord blood stem cells are believed to be better in the sense that they are more concentrated and have a higher probability for tissue matching. The stem cells from cord blood can be used to regenerate and repair body parts and organs in cases of disease or trauma and presents a lower risk for rejection.

BANKING FOR UNCERTAINTIES

The life-saving potential of cord blood has spurred the growth of a practice called cord blood banking. Cord blood banks harvest cord blood and store it for possible future use. Umbilical cord blood banking has the potential to save your baby’s life or the life of a loved one someday.

Cord blood storage is a one chance deal; it can only be done once - after your baby is born. After that, saving cord blood is not viable anymore as the stem cells die soon after umbilical cord is severed from the mother’s.

The process of cord blood banking is easy and painless for both mother and child. After the cord blood is collected it is frozen indefinitely to preserve the cells and store them for possible use if a need for them arises.

Cord blood banks are sprouting across the country as saving cord blood is fast gaining a foothold on the medical world. If you are a parent to be, cord blood banking is an option to consider. The main concern will be the costs as cord blood banking is not free. You pay for the medical procedure involved as well as the actual cord blood storage.

THE HIGH COST OF LIFE

Of course you have to weigh the cost against the potential benefit. Cord blood banking has enormous possibilities. On the other hand, you might be spending for something that you or your baby may have no need of. If after careful deliberation, you still plan to do cord blood banking, save for it early on.

In the face of life’s uncertainties, it is not a very difficult decision to make. If the chance to save a life someday means paying for saving cord blood, then the costs are not that high… Life, after all, is priceless.


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