With continuing research in the medical field, several treatment options are being discovered. This is especially in the area of terminal diseases. One of such treatment options is the use of cord blood stem cells in the treatment of several health conditions.
This is a discovery that has changed the decision most parents make concerning delivery. Instead of discarding the umbilical cord after delivery, parents now have the option to either donate their baby’s cord blood to public cord blood banks for use by other recipients or save it with a private cord blood bank for their family’s future use. Learn more about the difference between public and private cord blood banking
Stem cells can also be found in two other sources which are bone marrow and peripheral blood. However, among the three sources of collecting stem cells for transplant, the umbilical cord blood is known to be a very rich source of stem cells. These stem cells from umbilical cord, with their ability to develop into various types of cells, are known to aid in tissue, blood vessels and organs repairs. In fact, stem cells are used in treating a whole lot of diseases.
Some of the Diseases Treated With Cord Blood Stem Cells
So far, stem cells from umbilical cord have proven helpful in the successful treatment of over 80 different diseases. These diseases include immune deficiencies, cancers and other types of blood disorders like:
- Leukaemia
- Hodgkin’s disease
- Sickle cell anaemia
- Thalassemia
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
These are just a few of the numerous diseases that can be treated with the help of cord blood stem cells. The procedure is usually transplantation by infusion. Apart from these, there are several other possible future treatments with the use of stem cells from umbilical cord.
Some health conditions that can be treated in the future using cord blood stem cells include type 1 diabetes, myocardial infarction (heart attack), traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis. With the successful application of these treatment options in the future, it further increases the uses of cord blood stem cells.