Are you wondering about whether or not you should call a local cord blood bank?
The idea of cord blood banking has witnessed an increased acceptance in the past decade. Nowadays people are seriously considering bank their infant’s cord blood. Years ago, the umbilical cord used to be abandoned after the child was finally delivered, however with rising knowledge of how beneficial the blood of the umbilical cord is, the doctors have now started to store the blood of the umbilical cord in cord blood banks.
After a ton of medical research has been performed on what can be done with the umbilical cord researchers have determined that it is actually good to store the umbilical cord in a cord blood bank. The blood from the umbilical cord is very helpful in healing various diseases associated with the immune system as well as other blood related disorders which people suffer from. Until relatively recently the umbilical blood was never stored in a cord blood bank; But after the mid 1990s medical professionals have began to appreciate the significance of umbilical blood and are now spreading awareness of the importance of storing umbilical blood in a cord blood bank.
The growing importance of the Cord blood bank
The most basic reason why people are now thinking about using a cord blood bank is due to the fact that the umbilical blood is considered to be so precious. This is because it includes high amount of hematopoietic stem cells and can be stored in the cord blood banks safely for years. The importance of having a high quantity of hematopoietic stem cells is that this specific type of blood is capable of generating new white blood cells and red blood cells. The model behind the use of cord blood is similar to that of bone marrow transplants which have been in practice for a long time. However unlike the bone marrow which needed to be a perfect match, the utilization of the umbilical blood does not need such a perfect match.
There are many higher chances of treating an ailment with the use of umbilical blood than there are with the bone marrow transplants since the likelihood of someones body rejecting the umbilical blood are much less in comparison to his probability of rejecting the bone marrow.
The continuous stem cell research shows that there are roughly 70 diseases that can be cured with the use of the umbilical cord blood. It is for this reason that more and more people are finally starting to squirrel away their baby’s umbilical cord blood in a local cord blood bank. The cord blood is not only helpful for the child whose umbilical cord blood is stored, but this blood can also be useful to the family members of the children as well. The use of umbilical blood is vital due to the fact that research shows that the use of the umbilical blood can facilitate in treating cancers, damaged internal organs and even blood disorders, which is one of the foremost reasons why a lot of people are opting to use a cord blood bank service.
Anyone who wishes to have their baby’s umbilical blood stored must choose a cord blood bank prior to the delivery of your baby due to the fact that not all hospitals are equipped collect and convey the umbilical blood to the cord blood bank. Consequently you will have to to select the cord blood bank and inform your doctor about 2 months in advance so that you can simplify the progression of documentation and preparation for the collection and storage of your baby’s umbilical cord blood to the cord blood bank.
I believe that this research’s potential for cures for outweighs the negative. Everyone says, “oh we shouldn’t kill embryos and other methods work fine.” First of all, many embryos are discarded today that could be used to find cures for various dieseases. Also, embryonic stem cells are the most malleable form of stem cells, so they are the easiest kind to work with and have more potential. I think the government should fund stem cell research. What do you think?
The negatives are the ethics of it. Some people believe that using embryos for this purpose is wrong.
Filed under Stem Cell by on Oct 22nd, 2009. 7 Comments.
