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Yesterday, I focused on how stem cells from another person's bone marrow can save lives. However, today, I want to tell you that bone marrow stem cells aren't the only game in town anymore. Now, more and more people are donating their babies' cord blood after birth.
More cord blood banks are being created. More people are giving. This is great. It gives people like Lita Jempson, a chance to live. Before, a
stem cell transplant from another donor was a leukemia patient's only option. However, if a matching bone marrow donor is not found, unfortunately, the patient would pass away.
Such was the case with Lita Jempson, of Kent, England. Lita, suffering from leukemia needed a bone marrow stem cell donor. Doctors looked for a matching bone marrow donor, but none could be found. The only option was more chemotherapy. Well, as I said before, there is now another option- cord blood stem cells:
What makes this particular blood so valuable is that it contains large amounts of stem cells, which the body uses to make blood cells.Removing the blood is painless; it is collected immediately after birth by a doctor or midwife and takes only a few minutes.About five teaspoons are taken from the cut cord and placenta, using a needle connected to a sterile bag. But lack of storage facilities has meant this life-saver often ends up in hospital incinerators.This is what Lita was offered and given- cord blood stem cells. And the stem cell treatment seems to have worked:
Then five months ago, Lita was offered a cutting-edge treatment using a special type of blood - taken from a newborn's umbilical cord.'So far it seems to have worked,' she says. 'I'm clear of cancer, back home and, while not fully recovered, I'm feeling a lot better.'That is the power of
Repair Stem Cells aka Adult Stem Cells.
This greater effectiveness has been boosted by the discovery that it's possible to give patients blood from two cords, as happened in Lita Jempson's case.'Previously, we used only one because of concerns that blood from different immune systems could cause a deadly immune reaction,' says Professor Mufti.In fact, stem cells from only one of the donations starts producing new blood cells - the blood from the other cord seems to help this process, but it's not clear how.The greater tolerance of stem cells means they may be used to treat a range of other conditions. Already animal studies show they can dramatically reduce the problem with rejection that affects all transplant operations.'Besides stem cells, cord blood contains chemicals and proteins that can damp down immune reactions to the new organ, so patients won't have to take immune- suppressing drugs for life,' says Dr Sergio Querol, director of the new cord blood bank.'The idea is to give an extract of these substances to patients before they receive a transplant.'Auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes are also likely to benefit from cord blood stem cells' calming effect on the immune system.If you are having a baby soon, please think about saving the baby's cord blood stem cells. You could save someone's life. Similarly, you can register your own blood at
www.marrow.org and save someone's life another way.
Read the whole thing here