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Treatments for incurable diseases by cord blood stem cells. |
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Immense potential seen in treatment of heart disease, cancer & organ transplants. |
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Can develop into any type of cell in the body including bone, muscle and blood cells. |
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Cord blood stem cells are currently used in the treatment of several life-threatening diseases, and play an important role in the treatment of blood and immune system related genetic diseases, cancers, and blood disorders. |
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Storing Cord Blood increases the chance that if someone in your family needs a stem cell transplant; they can use stem cells from a relative. |
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If your child ever needs a medical treatment based on stem cells, the best stem cells to use are his or her own stem cells. This is because your child's own immune system will reject anyone else's stem cells and they will be destroyed. The best stem cells are your own stem cells. A close second are stem cells from a compatible close relative. |
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Stem cells from the umbilical cord can be ethically collected and stored without any threat to you or your baby. Yet, these stem cells have almost as much ability to develop into other cells as do embryonic and fetal stem cells. |
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Cord blood contains almost 10 times as many blood-producing cells, so less is needed for a successful transplant. Transplant recipients are less likely to reject a cord blood stem cell transplant than a bone marrow transplant. |
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Additionally, a cord blood stem cell match can be made on fewer criteria than with a bone marrow transplant, which means finding a life saving match is easier when using cord blood stem cells. |
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One umbilical cord generally contains enough stem cells to treat a child or a small adult. |
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If you are pregnant and would like to bank your child's cord blood, then discuss with your partner which cord blood services are best for you. Whether you decide to go with donating cord blood or storing it, know that your choice will help save someone's life. |
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Taking stem cells from an umbilical cord does not require destroying an embryo, as some types of stem cell harvesting do. |
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Stem cells transplants from cord blood do not require a perfect match the way bone marrow transplants do, and are less invasive for the donor. This makes matching a donor and recipient easier. Although there is a 25 percent chance that a sibling will be a perfect match for a baby's cord blood cells, most matches come from public banks. |
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The primary benefit to cord blood banking is that it provides a type of medical insurance. This insurance is not from a financial prospective, but rather takes the form of having the necessary medical building blocks available should they be needed in the event of certain illnesses and diseases. Those medical building blocks are the stem cells found in umbilical cord blood. |
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Preserve the stems cells found in umbilical cord blood after birth. There are no health risks in doing so. |
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Cord blood may eventually be used to treat a wider variety of auto-immune and degenerative diseases than is currently being done. |
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As today's children grow up and some of them develop cancer as adults, Autologous (self) cord blood transplants will become more common used. |
