Cord Blood, this words just bump to my head when we attend seminar about child intelegensia since pregnant.
Cord Blood is human blood from the placenta and umbilical cord that is rich in hematopoietic stem cells. Cord blood is collected after the umbilical cord has been detached from the newborn, and utilized as a source of stem cells for transplantation.
What diseases can be treated with cord blood?
Cord blood has been used successfully to treat leukemia, immune deficiency, sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia, thalassemia, lymphomas such as Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and similar but lesser-known conditions. The vast majority of these patients received cord blood stem cells from a sibling or non-relative. To date, only a few children have been treated successfully with their own cord blood because all of these diseases have a genetic basis. If a child with leukemia, for instance, were to be treated with his own cord blood, he could eventually develop the disease again because his cord blood contains the genetic code for leukemia. Researchers are investigating ways to remedy this issue.
Promising new research indicates that cord blood may eventually be used to treat people with conditions as varied as diabetes, spinal-cord injuries, heart failure, stroke, and neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis. However, most of these studies have been performed on animals and the results are much more preliminary, say some experts, than the public has been led to believe. “Breakthroughs occur daily,” says Laura Riley, an obstetrician at Massachusetts General Hospital. “But most people are overly optimistic about the amount of progress thus far.”
Scientists are hopeful that one day adult patients will routinely be able to receive their own cord blood as treatment. A newborn’s cord blood doesn’t contain enough stem cells to successfully treat an adult over about 100 pounds. Researchers have developed methods to expand the volume of stem cells in a cord blood unit, and they’re testing them in clinical trials now, but these procedures are not yet commonplace.
Back to our family health, I notice we need this. My dad passed away from tumor, my father in law passed away because cancer.
You see, cord blood have a positif result on the future, but my concern is the price we have to pay, the nearest bank is on Singapore and the price is about SG$2000 for the startup and every year we have to pay SG$ 250.
Trying to get extra money for this.