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- Life saving umbilical blood cells
- By: JUSTIN MATHEW
Cryogenic storage of your new born’s umbilical cord blood acts as insurance for your child as stem cells of cord blood can be life saving in case your child develops certain serious illnesses. Many medical researches have found that the residual umbilical cord blood incorporates the stem cells that are same like those stem cells, which are found in human bone marrow.
Significance of the stem cellsThe significance of the stem cells storage from the umbilical cord blood is that they act as the building blocks, which the body uses to make essential components in the immune system and the human blood.
The stem cells include:
•Red blood cells to carry oxygen •White blood cells to fight infection •Platelets for the clotting blood Stem cell storageare of utmost importance for life, thus, if any damage takes place to the stem cells at any point of time in life, either from a nonmalignant, malignant or from genetic disease, the stem cell transplant might be needed for the medical treatment.
The nonmalignant and malignant diseases during which stem cell transplant might be needed include:
Malignant diseases
•Severe lymphocytes leukemia •Adult unending myelogenous leukemia •Severe myelogenous leukemia •uvenile unremitting myelogenous leukemia •Multiple myeloma •Hodgkin's disease •Neuroblastoma •Myelodysplastic syndrome •Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Nonmalignant diseases
•AMT- Amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia •Congenital cytopenia •Aplastic anemia •Gaucher disease •Fanconi's anemia •Gunther disease •Hurler syndrome •Hunter syndrome •Kostmann syndrome •Osteoporosis •Lesch-Nyhan disease •SCID- Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease •Thalassemia •Sickle cell anemia Stem cells taken from the residual of the umbilical cord blood and the placenta have various advantages:
Compilation of the stem cells includes a very simple procedure without giving any risk to child or the mother.
Once the stem cells are stored, they are easily and quickly available when needed for the treatment, without following any procedure such as surgery to acquire the stem cells of the bone marrow or inducement along medications in order to obtain the stem cells from the peripheral blood.
Stem cells from the umbilical cord blood are superior at tolerating the differences between the donor and the recipient, with least graft-versus-host disease, an obstacle in some transplants wherein the grafted cells hit & There is low possibility of transmitting the infectious disease with the umbilical cord blood stem cells then with the transplantation of the stem cells of the bone marrow.
With the introduction of new techniques and methods for using the stem cells and the suitable nature of the stem cells of the umbilical cord blood for using in the gene therapy, the umbilical cord blood might become the most precious source of the stem cells. The umbilical cord blood might be just what the individual needs in order to fight from a severe disease. It is anticipated that the stem cells from the umbilical blood cells are seven to eight times stronger in producing novel blood cells then the stem cells from an adult’s bone marrow.