Blood remaining in the umbilical cord immediately following the birth of the baby. It contains a rich concentration of stem cells.

Below, you'll find extensive information on leading from cord blood articles and products to help you on your way to success.

What Is Cord Blood And Can It Help Your Baby?
By Bob
Cord blood is the blood found in the umbilical cord after a baby is born. It is becoming increasingly popular to bank this cord blood. The reason? The umbilical contains stem cells.

What are stem cells and why could they be important to the future health of your baby?

Stem cells from are cells that can create other kinds of beneficial blood cells. These other types of blood cells can be used to combat a variety of diseases that attack the immune system from certain blood diseases to certain varieties of cancers. As medical knowledge continues to advance it is also possible that a number of other diseases might be treatable with this umbilical cord blood.

Saving stem cells from is becoming a popular option because unlike bone marrow stem cell retrieval it is much easier to harvest and less dangerous to the patient. In fact, the procedure to collect from the baby at birth is painless for the baby and won't interrupt the birth process.

Another advantage of stem cells from is that there appears to be less chance of rejection from the host once the cells are introduced making it easier in the case of transplants and other uses.

Add to that the fact that banked is much more readily accessible than searching for a bone marrow donor through the bone marrow registries and you have an option that makes seemingly preferable to bone marrow for use in transplants.

Is preservation and storage economically feasible though?

That remains to be seen. Although the likelihood of one ever having to use the is remote, the fact that you may have a bank account with can provide many with a peace of mind unmatched.

Having said that, the jury is still out as to whether using the stem cell blood for your own child is effective or not. For this reason, one should consult a doctor well-versed in the knowledge of the benefits and perils of stem

cell transplantation prior to using stored or even setting up a bank account.

Using a bank to store the for the future use of your child could be important for families that have a history of some cancers or genetic disorders. In this case having the umbilical in storage is an option that could be explored.

There are an increasing number of banks that handle storage. Usually there is an initial outlay that may run up to a couple of thousand dollars followed by a yearly maintanance fee.

Two of the most prominent banks include the Registry and Viacord. Stored from the Registry has been responsible for more transplant blood than any other bank to date. They, like their counterparts, have recommendations from medical professionals on their site.

A parent can also donate the of their baby to be made available to others via a public bank. One caveat here though is that even though this is a noble option and one that could very well prolong the lives of others in need there is more red tape involved as the disease history of the parents must be tested, analyzed and confirmed often making it an expensive option.

In the end, is donation a wise option? On the positive side you have the improved health possibilities and potential future technological advances that may come up with more valuable uses of the stored cord blood. On the negative side you have the cost to retrieve and store the and the ambiguous scientific evidence as to its efficacy.

Choosing to store or donate in a bank then should probably only be done after consultation with a knowledgable physician well-versed in the latest stem cell research.

Article Source: http://www.article-outlet.com/

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