I read an article this morning about umbilical cord blood. It was especially interesting to me because of Lauren’s cord blood stem cell transplant. Donating cord blood is such an easy thing to do — it doesn’t cost the donor a thing. Stem cells found in cord blood can treat or reverse a myriad of diseases and disorders, and it’s readily available — about 4 million cords a year pop out right here in the United States. I hope expectant mothers will become more aware of this option, and donating cords will become the standard process following birth.
By the way, I’m registered to be a bone marrow donor. There was a recent drive while Lauren was at UA, and it seemed like the right thing to do.
Good point. There are however a few other things many people should be aware of. Most know that cord blood banks collect, process, test and store the donated umbilical cord blood for the public use, taking into account the great number of people who are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases each year. Therefore, cord blood banks look after expectant mothers, informing them about the importance of their umbilical cord blood and the possibility of helping some people who suffer from terrible diseases. Nevertheless, the information and sensitizing of the population is not fully achieved as in the case of simple blood donation. Cord blood stem cell transplants are considered in order to replace blood marrow transplants. The possibility of finding the match for the patients in need increases, as in 2001 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies stated that roughly 20,000 American lives were saved through transplants of stem cells. I’ve covered some other aspects related to this topic on my website, Cord blood information – please let me know if you find them useful.
Regards,
Michael Rad