Cord Blood Advice

With every passing day, the science behind the utility of umbilical cord blood is going a step forward. It is increasingly being used for curing leukemia patients. Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells. As the name suggests, it is extracted from the umbilical cord and the placenta immediately after delivery. Stems cells are very important. They have the capability of creating entirely new blood and organs too. The cord blood stem cells have created your baby and by preserving those stem cells, you are giving your baby a greater chance to fight possible life-threatening diseases.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells are commonly used to treat childhood leukemia for many years. However, only in recent years that adults with leukemia have been successfully treated with transplantation of cord blood stem cells from unrelated donors. One case is that of Stephen Sprague who was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) in 1995. Chemotherapy only kept the cancer under control for 17 months. In April 1997, he was in the final stage of the disease. He took part in a clinical trial to determine if adequate amount of cord blood stem cells could be harvested for a successful transplantation to an adult. In November 1997, he underwent a cord blood stem cell transplant and has been cancer free for over 9 years.

In Korea, a team of researchers claimed to have successfully transplanted umbilical cord blood stem cells into the spine of a 37-year old woman. The patient had been paralyzed for 19 years due to an accident. Doctors injected the stem cells directly into the damaged portion of her spine. Within only three weeks, she began walking assisted with a walker, and today she walks well without aid.

Great promise has been shown in the treatment of Krabbe Disease and other rare lysomal storage diseases through the transplantation of cord blood stem cells. Krabbe disease occurs in infants, and if left untreated is usually fatal within 2 years. Researchers from Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have made ground breaking progress in the treatment of this disease. Their research shows that newborns who receive umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants while they are still asymptomatic have a much higher chance of survival than children who have already shown symptoms. The key is to catch the disease early enough to prevent the loss of critical brain function.

Stem cells are slow. They take time to produce the required blood cells. Till then the patient runs severe risk of infections due to reduced immunity.There may be case where the stem cells are not be as healthy as expected after being preserved for so many years. Theoretically, cord blood can be preserved forever. In reality, no one is sure about how long a unit of cord blood can be saved without affecting its utility.

Thalassaemia is a blood disease in which the body produces deformed red blood cells. Frequent blood transfusions are necessary and previously the only cure was a bone marrow transplant. On 3 July 2001, a cord blood stem cell transplant was carried out on a 5-year old Malaysian Chinese boy with Thalassaemia Major. He is now able to produce normal red blood cells and is cured of Thalassaemia Major. Besides bone marrow transplant from a sibling, cord blood transplant is now a viable treatment for Thalassaemia.

Once a match is made, many factors are considered, such as age of the donor, their sex, medical conditions, blood type, and other things. The urgency of the required transplant will also play a factor in this process.