What do cord blood banks do? Well, they collect the umbilical cord blood from the donors, process it, test it, and save the cord blood donated by individuals. Blood drawn from each umbilical cord is cryopreserved (by freezing it) as an independent cord blood unit, which is now available for transplant. This entire process is known as cord blood banking.
Cord Blood Stem Cells – Some Benefits
Cord blood was first utilized in transplantation in 1988. Baby cord blood stem cells possess the capacity to treat diseases just like bone marrow – with very low rejection rate. Cord blood preservation has provided immense hope to the patients suffering from life-threatening diseases like leukemia, blood and immunity problems, and many cancers. Cord blood is rich in stem cells, which serve as the building blocks of blood and immune system of the body. The last few years have seen a large number of critically ill patients been treated with this amazing medical discovery.
About 25 per cent of the transplants come from siblings and the remaining from samples collected through cord blood donations. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of families willing to go for cord blood preservation. The Journal of the American Medical Association states that, every year, 10,000-15,000 people in the Unites States are in need of bone marrow transplant, but are unable to get a suitable donor. Looking at this statistic, we can say that umbilical cord blood transplant is the best alternative that medical science can ever have. According to the reports, September 1997 had about 1,500 cord blood transplants throughout the world.
Blood Bags – How Effective Are They
The cord blood bank uses either vials or blood bags for storing the cord blood. Both of them have their own advantage and disadvantage and there is no scientific evidence that states that one of them is better than the other.
The chief advantage of blood bags is that the doctors use the same bag for collecting and storing the umbilical cord blood. Thus, there is restricted handling of the bag, which in turn, reduces the probability of contamination. However, some medical experts are of the view that blood bags can rupture during prolonged storage whereas vials are less prone to breakage. Moreover, the latter seal the cord blood in double protective layers, thus, alleviating the virus contamination risks.