Cord Blood Bank

Cord Blood

Umbilical cord blood contains stem cells which are the primary cells that diversify into red blood, white blood corpuscles and platelets. Recent research has also indicated that cord blood can be used in tissue culture to create liver cells, cardiac cells and other cells of the human body. Therefore, doctors believe that cord blood cells have great potential in transplant medicine and they are eager to experiment with the different ways in which cord blood stem cells can be used to cure diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes or even for tissue culture and creation of liver and other cells.

Cord Blood Stem Cells treatment

The stem cells extracted from umbilical cord blood are transplanted into the patient with matching parameters during the treatment of blood and immune system diseases like leukemia and sickle cell anemia. The cord blood stem cells are injected into the veins of the patient directly from the bag containing the preserved cord blood stem cells. The process is very simple and painless. The cord blood stem cells then begin to circulate in the blood stream of the patient. The stem cells regenerate the red blood cells, the white blood cells and platelets in the blood and help fight the disease. This kind of transplantation is also extremely useful where a patient is suffering from damage to healthy cells along with cancer cells during chemotherapy and radiation. Once the cord blood stem cell has been transplanted it begins to proliferate very fast and helps build up the volume of healthy blood or tissue in the body.

Cord Blood and GHD disease

The best aspect of using cord blood stem cells is the fact that cord blood stem cells, do not have to perfectly match with the recipient’s parameters during a transplant. Unlike bone marrow cells which contain immune cells called T-lymphocytes and are fully mature, cord blood stem cells are not “immunologically mature”. They do not contain the immune cells and hence will not attack the patients own cell causing a graft vs. host disease (GHD). This disease can be very severe and is most common during bone marrow stem cell transplant, and the patient can die during this process. Cord blood transplants so far have been very successful and few patients succumb to GHD after a cord blood stem cell transplant.

Summary

Umbilical cord blood stem cells are both versatile and easily acquired. This makes them the most important source of stem cells for different kinds of immune system disorders and blood related problems.