Cord Blood Stem Cells

Cord Blood Stem Cells

Cord blood stem cells are stem cells found in the blood inside a newborn’s umbilical cord after birth. These stem cells are very unique in that they can be used for the newborn and anyone who is blood related to the newborn, but the farther away the relation to the newborn the worse the stem cells work. These stem cells can be used for a variety of illnesses and disorders. Cord cells are different from the other types in the fact that they can’t be used all over the body. They can only be used mainly when it has to deal with blood since the stem cells come specifically from the blood inside the umbilical cord. With this huge difference, the use of cord blood stem cells isn’t as popular as the other two types of stem cells. There are other disadvantages to cord blood stem cells in the fact that they have to be taken from the umbilical cord upon birth and have to be stored until they are needed.

            Upon birth, these cord blood stem cells are taken from the blood within the newborn’s umbilical cord and then has to be stored in a cord blood bank. Unfortunately, housing these cord blood stem cells isn’t free. So you would have to pay for the cord blood bank until/if you need them, but if you do, these cord blood stem cells can save your life.

            A newborn’s “umbilical cord stem cells have unique advantages over the adult stem cells found in bone marrow. They're younger, more versatile, and have not been exposed to environmental factors.” (http://www.cordblood.com/benefits-cord-blood/umbilical-cord-stem-cells) It is important to think ahead when it comes to saving lives because there are new diseases that surface in medicine and current ones are become more and more common. Also it is also important for stem cell research to get more and more funding and more and more involvement because it is a fairly new type of research that can potentially save a lot of lives over the years if it receives proper involvement and funding.

            Many people don’t know much about stem cell research, which is one reason why I am writing this blog, because it can be very beneficial to society. There is one organization called Cord Blood Registry, which is all about the banking of cord blood stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborns. On it’s website, it says everything about cord blood stem cells and it even gives prices for people interested in putting their newborn’s cord blood stem cells in the cord blood bank upon birth. It may be a little pricy and a lot of money over the years but if the newborn does in fact become diagnosed with a life threatening cancer, blood disorder, immune disorder, or metabolic disorder, having the newborn’s cord blood stem cells in a cord blood bank is a great idea, especially if there is a family history of having a disorder mentioned on the website.