What if there was a simple and easy way to protect your child from a huge variety of childhood diseases and conditions?
The good news is that there is. However, it’s only an option for babies you haven’t had yet. Cord blood banking is increasing in popularity, and it’s an excellent way to help protect your child’s health and wellbeing. Not only now, but in the future too!
Cord blood stem cells remain viable for at least 25 years after collection, although it’s believed that they can be stored for much longer. That means that your child will be covered from a variety of diseases for at least a quarter of a century!
Here’s some more info on just how this stored cord blood can make a huge difference in your child’s life.
Malignant Diseases
Cord blood can be used to treat a variety of childhood cancers, including leukemia, neuroblastoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and melanoma (rare in children).
Chemotherapy or radiation is the first course of action. This destroys the infected bone marrow cells, and the cord blood is then introduced with healthy stem cells. These healthy cells then go forward to create new blood cells, which can fight the cancerous infection much more effectively.
Treatment of Nonmalignant Disorders
Cancer isn’t the only scary childhood condition! Thankfully, cord blood can be used to treat a variety of other conditions too, including blood disorders, metabolic disorders, and immune conditions.
Cord blood is used in combination with something called “reduced-intensity conditioning”. This is a low-dose form of chemotherapy, which basically wipes the body’s bone marrow cells away, leaving a clean slate for the new cord blood stem cells to come in and start doing good things.
Treating nonmalignant disorders can be done with a direct application of stem cells and no chemotherapy. But a light dose has been proven to reduce the chance of stem cell transplant failures.
What Childhood Disorders Can Cord Blood Help Treat?
Cord blood has been tested in the treatment of a variety of childhood diseases and conditions. As well as the various forms of cancer mentioned above, cord blood can be used in the treatment of:
- Sickle cell disease
- Krabbe disease
- Hunter syndrome
- Thalassemia
- Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
- Retinoblastoma
- Certain brain tumours
- A variety of other tumours
- Other forms of anemia
Research is still ongoing for some of these conditions. In some cases, chemotherapy is still necessary together with stem cell transplants, but the addition of cord blood treatment is invaluable.
Each of these conditions shows positive responses to cord blood therapies, which suggest that cord blood treatment can be a highly effective solution for many seemingly hopeless childhood diseases.
The Two Ways to Use Cord Blood
There are two different ways your child can benefit from cord blood. Firstly, if their own cord blood was stored at birth, they can receive their own blood, which significantly decreases the chance of the body rejecting the cells.
Or, if you don’t have access to their own cord blood, a sibling’s cord blood can be used if they’re a genetic match. Alternatively, you may be able to find a matching umbilical cord blood donor but choosing a matching sibling’s blood will have a higher chance of success.
How Can You Take Advantage of This?
The answer is simple – bank your child’s cord blood! When you do so, you’re basically giving them a hugely increased chance of beating more than 20 common childhood conditions, including a variety of cancers.
If you don’t save your child’s cord blood at birth, all is not lost. But all is much more complicated. If your child becomes ill and needs a stem cell transplant, you’ll need to find a donor that’s a genetic match for your kid.
As simple as that may sound, finding a matching donor can take months, at best, to find an appropriate donor. And unfortunately, most ill children just don’t have that much time to waste.
Banking your child’s cord blood could be the only thing that saves their life one day!
In Conclusion
Cord blood banking is a no-brainer. Would you give up the chance to save your child from multiple pediatric diseases and conditions if it was right at your fingertips? Probably not!
Invest in your child’s future. Ensure your child’s health and wellbeing. Download our free cord blood banking info pack and get in touch with us to learn more about what cord blood banking options are available to you today!