Umbilical Cord Blood Banking: Saving a Lifesaver

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Pharmeceutical-Medical )



Science has proven that cord blood is a highly pure source of undifferentiated, blood-forming stem cells. The transfusion of cord blood stem cells has the potential to treat a number of life-threatening illnesses which would otherwise have no cure.

ADVANTAGES OVER BONE MARROW

While bone marrow has long been used as a source of blood-forming cells with great success, the problem lies in the tendency of body tissues to be highly sensitive to bone marrow stem cells that are not its exact match. Bone marrow transfusion requires accurate tissue typing to lessen the risk of GVHD or graft versus host disease which can be very fatal given the compromised immune system of the patient who underwent the transfusion.

This problem is not present in cord blood. The high purity and potency of the stem cells found in cord blood makes it easily accepted and assimilated by body tissues regardless of the tissue type of the host patient. Cord blood donation therefore does not call for a very exact tissue match before a transfusion is considered.

Another advantage of umbilical cord blood banking is that the cord blood keeps well under long storage. Umbilical cord blood banking can be done for as long as ten years without the stem cells losing their effectiveness.

TYPES OF CORD BLOOD BANKING

More and more cord blood banks are sprouting all over the country in anticipation of a growing demand for umbilical cord blood banking facilities. Umbilical cord blood banking involves two steps - first is the collection of the cord blood upon birth, and the second is the actual cord blood storage. The cord blood is frozen for an indeterminate period of time until a medical need in the family requires its use.

Umbilical cord blood banking can also be in the form of cord blood donation. When you perform a cord blood donation, the cord blood is kept under temporary storage arrangements until a suitable match is found and a transfusion can be done.


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