COLLECTING CORD BLOOD
More than a decade ago, and still in most undeveloped countries, facing a case of leukemia is really hard for parents and patients suffering this type of cancer. One of the alternative treatments for this disease is bone marrow transplantation. However, finding a donor even within the family is very hard and sometimes it takes a long time to find a perfect match because they need to wait for an unrelated donor.
Recent research on umbilical cord blood has demonstrated that stem cells found in the cord blood, can also be used to treat leukemia, as well as nearly seventy-five other diseases, which include other types of cancers, immunodeficiencies, blood disorders and many other diseases that may require bone marrow transplantation too. Since the stem cells contained in the umbilical cord can currently be collected at the child´s birth, and stored for future use in case it is needed, a new alternative raises on the horizon for lots of children suffering genetic and blood disorders or cancers.
This kind of therapy and research is still on an experimental stage, however and for more than fifteen years it has been proved to be effective in some cases; where it was hard to find bone marrow tissue that completely matches with the sick patient. Stem cells from the umbilical cord blood are still immature, are adaptable, and not well differentiated. For this reason, they are able to reproduce and to divide in different kind of cells, like nervous, liver, muscle, cartilage, bone, heart, and blood cells. The chances of rejection when using cord blood stem cells is also less far than using bone marrow transplantation, since in comparison, the match is more simple.
For blood collecting cord services, a lot of private companies have started to promote their services with the idea of assuring stem cells availability for those parents who are worried about their children’s health. If we add to this the genetic predisposition to develop some diseases, it is very important to think about blood collecting cord and preservation.
There is also the donating alternative, so a wide range of tissue type compatible stem cells is available for all those people who may need an umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant. Public cord blood banks and donations protect those vulnerable groups such as minorities and economical depressed social stratums. While more stem cells of different tissue types are available, more patients requiring both bone marrow and/or umbilical cord blood transplantation can be treated successfully with this new therapy. Blood collecting cord is easy, it is done at the moment of a child’s birth, it is painless, noninvasive, and in case of donation, is totally cost-free.