Stem cell banking-An ultimate biological insurance of health

Motherhood brings in lot of responsibilities towards yourself and the unborn. Your responsibilities start from the day you get pregnant. You start looking for websites for pregnancy tips and every instruction by your doctors and elders. You want to give best to your child. Now give a precious gift of lifetime protection from more than 75 deadliest diseases, to your baby. Yes Cord Blood Banking is that health umbrella which every mom would like to give to her child. Every parent should learn cord blood banking as an essential part of Pre-bo
education.
The discovery that stem cells can be obtained from umbilical cord blood instead of the more controversial source-embryo or bone marrow, has renewed interest on the new, exciting therapeutic potentials of stem cell therapy. Several therapeutic targets have been cited as candidates for treatment such as, malignant blood disease, hematological disorders, complex neurological illnesses, genetic and autoimmune diseases, benign and malignant blood diseases, skeletal anomalies, and the ultimate promise of using this technique in delaying the process of human aging.
Use of bone marrow transplant therapy has been limited both by the availability of suitable stem cell donors as well as the various immunologic complications, namely graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). In last decade many patients have been saved from many malignant and nonmalignant diseases with help of umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant from related and unrelated donors. Preliminary results suggest that rate of engraftment is high and risk of severe GVHD is low, regardless of donor type. The reason behind this is that Cord blood stem cells are in state of muted immune system and hence, are less likely to contain infectious agents.
Because of this reasons medical science is encouraging young couples for Cord Blood Storage of their babies. It is the most straightforward way of providing natural stem cells either to the same individual, if it was stored for personal use or as a pooled source for allogenic purpose. With the number of lifestyle disorders increasing, stem cell banking is an important source for needy patients.
Collection of Umbilical Cord blood stem cells is very simple. This procedure is painless and risk-free to both mother and baby. Immediately after the delivery, the baby cord is clamped and cut .The caregiver then collects the umbilical cord blood by inserting a needle into the cord vein, and draining the blood into either a blood bag or a syringe. It takes about 3 minutes and does not alter the birthing process in any way. Straight after your baby cord blood is collected, your obstetrician will temporarily store your baby's umbilical cord into the dedicated container provided by cord blood bank. And then after that it is transported to Cord Blood Storage facility.
Now every parent can freeze and store their child’s stem cells as an "insurance policy" that could be used to treat diseases if their children develop in the future or even grow new organs.