Medical Training for Health

Archive for the ‘Cord Blood’ Category

In medical field umbilical cord blood banking has proved to be a boon for a newborn and his mother owing to its life granting feature. Your family’s future is entirely secure and insured with this unconventional method which is prompt gaining popularity. If you don’t choose to bank your baby’s cord blood, it will be discarded after birth. Stem cells are abundantly found in the cord blood of the baby which is mostly distinctive to the baby and his family. It is in essence, a type of insurance of life saving treatments. It is not only beneficial for the baby but can be resourceful treating diseases or conditions affecting his siblings or parents. Placental blood, platelets and plasma is considered a rich source of life saving cells because it contains hypo allergens of fetus (from the baby) and mother.

Cord blood is collected by two different ways:

Bag method: the cord is placed in a structure in a way so that all blood is drained out in a bag. It may be labeled later with a unique number representing your baby.

Syringe method: blood is drawn out in a syringe just like it is drawn by an injection for a simple blood test.

Umbilical cord blood banking is a new field of clinical and medical science. It has proved to be biological insurance for baby and the family. Before blood is taken for storage its samples are sent for testing of viral and foreign bodies like hepatitis A and B. It is now a popularly known fact that this blood helps in curing diseases like leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, neuron disorders and diabetes in children. Cord blood transplant has proven to be a better way of curing diseases than conventional bone marrow transplantation. The blood that flows from the mother’s uterus and placenta to the baby is very rich source of life.

By simply discarding uterus wastes and umbilical cord after birth we tend to waste a very unique source of life saving stem cells. If same HLA types (human leukocyte antigens) are found then even close family members or blood relatives life can be saved. Many blood diseases can completely incapacitate human body and infections often lead to death. Umbilical cord nutrient rich blood is one of the active sites in human blood which has life saving qualities. Private and public cord blood banks are open and accessible to recipients in urgent need of cord blood.

The tragedy and the tough life that children with cerebral palsy have is really a hard one to carry for a child. There seems to be no hope for getting better, as there is only hope for coping with the situation in a way that will allow the child to live a semi normal life. But there might be hope at the horizon, hope that is not thoroughly documented but that can arise the happiness in so many parents and children altogether.

The cerebral palsy or CP as it is largely known is a disease that affects the muscle. The muscles lack the control and coordination of a normal movement series. Also with CP there may occur severe handicaps and delays in movement and sometimes in speech. This severe condition does not have very well understood causes and they are still a mystery. The certainty is that it occurs as a result of a certain brain damage. This damage may happen before birth, during it or sometimes in the infancy period.

The treatment with stem cells harvested from the child’s own Cord Blood has proven to be useful in some cases. The stem cells may be able to repair the damaged parts of the brain and restore the cells. But there is a long way to go from the experimental part of the process and actually having all children treated with stem cells. However the beginning sounds promising for many. In this way many CP suffering children will have the change of a normal life and of recovering.