Cord Blood Bank

Cord Blood Banks: Very Special "Medical" Banks

Although banks are most commonly thought of in the financial sense, there are also various “medical” repositories, such as cord blood bank, that offer safe and secure storage of critical substances such as a baby’s umbilical cord blood stem cells.

Cord blood is gathered from the umbilical cord and placenta in a totally painless, quick and simple procedure just after a baby is born. While there are only typically three to five ounces of cord blood collected, they are the key to a number of potentially life-saving medical procedures for diseases and blood disorders including Hodgkin’s and Sickle Cell Anemia. An increasingly trend today is the storage of these stem cells at a secure cord blood bank such as the Family Cord Blood Services in Los Angeles, CA. People in dire need of a stem cell transplant tend to recover more frequently than those that use stem cells derived in other ways.

Stem cells that don’t come from a cord blood bank are derived from bone marrow or other sources. The problem with these cells is that they are not always a perfect match and they don’t have the resilience of cells from the umbilical cord blood. So, cord blood banks preserve the cord blood for years, and the way its frozen makes it easier to manipulate. Also, cord blood hasn’t been affected by environmental influences and tends to regenerate healthy new blood. Even though doctors have used cord blood stem cells for a number of years, it hasn’t been until recently that researchers are seeing the true potential of this treatment.

It’s much more common for parents to save their newborn children’s cord blood in a cord blood bank than it has been in the not-so-distant past. Word is getting out about the miraculous properties of the cord blood. The first uses were mainly for cancer patients; especially those with blood cancers. Even if they went into remission after chemotherapy, the treatment often wiped out their healthy blood cells along with the sick ones. Stem cells are the source for all types of new blood; red cells, white cells, platelets, and specific organ blood cells. As already mentioned, cord blood provides more efficient stem cells.

There are a couple of types of cord blood banks. One is the private repository, such as Family Cord Blood Services (FCBS), where parents pay to save their baby’s blood stored. In the event the baby becomes ill with a blood disorder or disease, and needs a transplant, the perfectly matched cord blood cells will be there. The blood is stored for years and it provides a sense of security to these families. Often it may be used for other sick family members as well.

Public cord blood banks are free, but the donor doesn’t have an exclusive right to their own blood. The blood type is put on a registry and anyone in need may use the blood that matches their own. If the donor becomes ill, he or she may use their blood if it’s still in the bank.

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Cord Blood,   Cord Blood Bank,   Cord Blood Banking,   Cord Blood Storage
Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells