Cord Blood Banking A Basic Guide
Cord blood banking is an important process that many parents use to help ensure the future health of their children. Most of us have heard about the value of stem cells when treating disease, and it is the stem cells found in the umbilical cord and placenta after childbirth that are used in cord blood banking. The cord blood banking process is relatively simple, but if you want more information, here’s a basic guide.
Why Bank Cord Blood? Basically, parents choose to bank cord blood in case it might be useful in the future to treat a specific health issue. Obviously, there is really only one chance to collect blood from the umbilical cord, and with more and more uses for it being found all the time, many parents don’t want to miss out. Some of the reasons that parent would want to participate in cord blood banking include: • Bone marrow transplant • Leukemia treatment • Sickle cell anemia treatment • Krabbe’s disease treatment
Why Bank cont… The stem cells that come from cord blood have the ability to produce all of the different cell types in the body, which is one of the main benefits and reasons of banking. However, the real ‘why’ of cord blood banking may lie in treatments that haven’t even been discovered yet. The ones that are known are quite impressive, and with research ongoing it’s only a matter of time before that list is expanded. Cord blood banking means you’ll be ready, if necessary.
How Is Cord Blood Extracted? The cord blood extraction process is quite simple, but it does require a good deal of skill and precision. After a baby is born, the umbilical cord is cut like it always is, then it is cleaned. Once cleaned, a needle is inserted into the cord and blood is drawn. This is repeated in a few different locations along the cord, and the blood is deposited into a sterile collection bag. After it’s all collected, the bag is wrapped up in thermal wrappers and the cord blood is sent to the lab.
How Is It Banked? The process of cord blood banking basically means freezing it and storing it in a sterile location or ‘bank’. The blood may be banked in a facility for public use or a private cord blood bank designed for private, family use. Banking cord blood in a public facility doesn’t cost anything, but it may end up helping a stranger in the future. If you don’t want to store cord blood privately, public storage can make a difference is someone’s life.
The Moral Dilemma Most people have likely heard of the moral issues raised with stem cell extraction and using stem cells for medical conditions. With cord blood banking, the moral dilemma that many people have with embryonic stem cells is no longer applicable. With umbilical cord blood, the baby is already born and the blood that is left in the cord is literally going to be thrown away. This cord blood isn’t needed by the baby anymore, but it still has the red and white blood cells and plasma found in regular blood.
Moral Dilemma cont‌ When cord blood is extracted for banking, the baby doesn’t feel any pain, similar to when the cord is cut. Cord blood banking is a quick, painless procedure that occurs after the baby has been born using blood that is going to be disposed of anyway.
Real-Life Examples Some real-world examples of using stem cells to help with serious medical problems, include: • Recreating functional human blood vessels in mice with only an injection. This could mean a future of nonsurgical heart repair. • Injecting umbilical cord blood cells into the brains of elderly rats and improving brain function. • Growing tissue to replace a woman’s windpipe using her own stem cells. This completely eliminates any fear of rejection.
References http://www.cellsforlife.com/umbilical-cord-blood.html#target Cells for Life – Umbilical Cord Blood Bank