How Important is Umbilical Cord Blood?

By apurva - 2007-06-19 - Viewed 980 times. Find more articles like this in our Stem Cells and Cord Blood category.

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Umbilical cord blood is the blood that is found in the umbilical cord and the placenta. It is extracted immediately after the delivery of the baby.

This blood is rich in stem cells. Stem cells are the architects of your body. They have the capability of creating new blood cells, brain cells, etc. They can adjust to the body anytime and start repairing or replenishing the old cells.

Stem cells can give the scientist a treasure of information about various diseases and birth defects. With a detailed study, the reasons behind various genetic diseases and deformities can be unearthed. The specialty of the stem cells lies in their ability to multiple several times and creates whichever cell the body needs.

Diseases That Can Be Treated With Stem Cells

More than 70 diseases can be treated with the help of the umbilical cord blood cells.

Some of them are as follows:

Bone Marrow Failure Disorders like Aplastic Anemia (Severe), Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia, Pure Red Cell Aplasia, etc

Hemoblobinopathies like Beta Thalassemia Major and Sickle Cell Disease

Histiocytic Disorders like Hemophagocytosis

Inherited Immune System Disorders like Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome, Reticular Dysgenesis, Chronic Granulomatous Disease, Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, etc

Inherited Metabolic Disorders like Gaucher Disease, Krabbe Disease, Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome, Tay Sachs, Wolman Disease, etc

Leukemias and Lymphomas like Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, Adult T Cell Leukemia, Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, Polymphocytic Leukemia, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia etc

Plasma Cell Disorders like Plasma Cell Leukemia, Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, etc.

Other Inherited Disorders  like Cartilage-Hair Hypoplasia, DiGeorge Syndrome,  Osteopetrosis, etc.

Extensive research is being conducted the benefits of cord blood stem cells in ailments like Brain tumor, Ovarian cancer, Small cell lung cancer, testicular cancer, Rheumatoid Arthritis, spinal injury, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Muscular Dystrophy, etc.

Cord Blood Vs Bone Marrow Transplants

Why do we need to preserve the cord blood?

Bone marrow stem cells should be enough. Well, there are still debates on this issue. There is one point that everyone agrees with. That is, umbilical cord blood has more stem cells than the bone marrow does.

On the other hand, unlike the cord blood, adult donor blood is not limited by quantity. However, cord blood stem cells are more flexible compared to the bone marrow cells.  Very rarely is it seen that a patient’s body has rejected the cord blood stem cells.

Cord Blood Banks

Cord blood banking is increasing in popularity over the past few years. Two types of banks specialize in umbilical cord blood collection and preservation- Public Cord Blood Bank and the Private Cord Blood Bank.

Public Cord Blood Banking services are free. Here you can preserve your child’s stem cells. However, a point to note is if you plan to preserve the blood specifically for your family, you will be unable to do so in a public cord blood bank.

Here it is more like a donation for the well-being of the society and research. Private blood banks are expensive. Nevertheless, here you can preserve the stem cells just for your family use.

Umbilical cord blood is very important because the stem cells of cord blood can be used for treatment of many deadly diseases. It is therefore important to preserve cord blood in a cord blood bank also known as cord blood registry. Cord Blood Banking provides answers to all questions that you could have about cord blood banking.

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