Women ' s Health
Matters
Save Your Child ' s Life by Saving the Umbilical Cord
After , delivery , while the doctor is finding the scissors to hand to the proud father , he leans over to the parents and asks them if they would like to preserve the umbilical cord blood from the newborn , and send it to a blood bank for preservation and possible future use . Umbilical Cord blood contains stem cells , which can differentiate into any type of tissue , organ , or system that you want to culture it to become . This can be great , if an incident occurs during the child ' s life , or possibly a relative ' s , where tissues , or an organ , or a system can be needed , and the availability of someone else ' s is slow or not progressing in the given time frame . With stem cells , the physician can allow the cells to differentiate into the desired organ or tissue , and transplant these cells into the body , in hopes of curing or solving the predicament . So many diseases can currently be cured with stem cells . Inherited metabolic disorders , such as Tay Sachs and Wolman Disease can be treated and cured with these stem cells . All of the bone marrow disorders , blood cancers , leukemias , and lymphomas , are also curable . More common ailments and diseases like Osteoporosis , Rheumatoid Arthritis , Ovarian Cancer , Testicular Cancer , and Sickle Cell Disease all can use the cord blood as a remedy .
This option , of storing the cord blood , is given to everyone , before delivery , and confirmed at birth . The process is easy . If the parents decide to save and store the cord blood , once the umbilical cord is cut as usual , the blood is collected from the cord , sealed and secured , and immediately shipped off to a blood bank for storage . Families , who participate , have the option of using this blood for their retention , or they could donate the blood for science , or give to a family in need . Relatives of the stored blood have a high success rate of survival , using the stem cells extracted from the cord blood . In comparison to using donated stem cells , the success rate is double if using your own . Complications can arise more in unrelated , not genetic blood , than using genetic blood ; however , donating cord blood , still is a gift that can potentially save a life .
This concept of preventative medicine is a great idea , but not a frugal option because this is an elective procedure . At CBR Cord Blood Registry , the world ' s leading cord blood registry with offices located in California and storage banks in Arizona , the cost to initially collect , process and join the bank is between 1,500 and 1,900 dollars . Then , each year , the family would pay around $ 125 to store the blood . So , if you are looking to house the blood during the developmental ages of birth to ten years of age , you are roughly paying $ 3,150 . This price isn ' t too steep , but you definitely have to make your decision based on ' what if ' and for how long do you want to store the stem cells .
Despite what anyone feels or thinks , there are documented cases of success stories where stem cells collected were used and they cured the patient . A testimony of how this worked , as documented by CBR Cord Blood Registry , CBR because their facilities were used , includes the story of a little boy named Joseph . Joseph , Jr . was born to a couple after undergoing infertility treatment . His parents , being African American happened to carry the genes for sickle cell anemia , and Joseph inherited this disease . Having this disease , Joseph suffered with all the typical symptoms associated with illness . Tired of seeing their son suffer with the pain , fevers , and swollen limbs , and even the multiple blood transfusions , Joseph ' s parents decided to look for alternative solutions . For years , Joseph ' s parents and physicians looked for a match both in stem cells in bone marrow and umbilical cord blood . The search was continuing with no prevail , until Joseph ' s mother not only found out that she was pregnant , but that the baby was a match for Joseph . When Joseph ' s baby brother was born , his umbilical cord blood was taken , processed , and stored at CBR . Chemotherapy destroyed all of Joseph ' s sickled cells , and the stem cells were transplanted into Joseph to rebuild him a new red blood cell bank , free of sickled cells . With much success , Joseph recovered , free of disease , free of pain , free to live a more healthy life .
Women ' s Health Matters Saving Umbilical Cord Dominique D . Barrs Orlando , Florida Summer 2013