Stem Cell Research
INTRODUCTION
A child is born everyday and without realizing it, the material that is routinely discarded after the birth could one day be life saving for that person, someone else in the family, or even a complete stranger. This material is the umbilical cord, and the blood contained within their vessels.
One may wonder, why is this blood so important? Medical research has discovered that the residual umbilical cord blood contains stem cells. These cells are the building blocks that the body uses to create some of the key components of the human immune system, blood and bone marrow. Stem cells are essential for life, they carry oxygen, fight infections and platelets that form clots on injured body parts. So if
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To date the procedure has been performed on a patient upwards of 230 pounds. (http://www.caner.umn.edu/page/research/cord2.html). The blood is then cryogenically stored at –385 degrees Fahrenheit in a private or public blood bank.
WHO BENEFITS Once the blood is collected, what happens to it? Parents choose whether they want their child’s blood reserved for “Directed donation” or “Public donation”. With Directed donation the blood collected from the newborn will only be used for treating a blood disease of a sibling or immediate family member. It will be labeled and stored until it is needed. If a parent chooses Public donation, their baby’s cord blood will be donated to a general blood bank that anyone might use.
SOCIAL AND ETHICAL QUESTIONS RAISED If parents choose a Directed donation, the blood will remain in a private blood bank at an average cost of $1500, plus an annual storage fee of about $100 (source: American college of Obstetrics and Gynecology). To some people, that may seem like a small price to pay for all the potential benefits cord blood can provide, but what are the chances that one of their children or a family member will ever need to use it? Many private cord banks selling cord blood banking as a sort of “biological insurance” – just in case something happens. Experts in blood banking and bone marrow transplantation frown upon this; they argue that people are being frightened into
According to Kominar, another reason to donate is that one day you may have a family member who needs blood, and you’ll already have the experience.
Over the last several decades, the field of medical technology and research has become increasingly advanced. Just read up on any of the most recent innovations; what may have once been considered science fiction is rapidly becoming reality. Some of the most publicized scientific discoveries are related to stem cells, as the controversial research and use of certain types of these cells is continuously being debated among politicians, scientists, and religious leaders. However, it is believed that a specific type of stem cell, an umbilical cord blood stem cell, may be used to treat a number of diseases, disorders, or injuries devoid of ethical controversy. Banks for storing cord blood exist in countries all over the world and its use is
The Red Cross provides blood for patients in approximately 2,600 hospitals across the U.S. The Red Cross makes blood available to any patient who needs it — patients are not required to find donors to replace the blood they use allowing the patient and their family to focus on recovery. Eighty percent of the blood donations given to the Red Cross are collected at mobile blood drives set up at community organizations, companies, high schools, and colleges, places of worship or military installations. The remaining 20 percent are collected at Red Cross donation centers. The American Red Cross works with more than 50,000 blood drive sponsors each year to hold more than 200,000 blood drives, providing convenient locations for people to give
A limited amount of stem cells can be extracted from after birth, but these few cells can mean a longer or improved life for someone (Bergman). In addition, people believe that harvesting cord blood cells steals the cells from the child. The umbilical cord is cut and clamped just like a typical delivery (CariCord). Delayed clamping, in which the cord is left attached to drain the blood back into the baby, still allows the afterbirth to be donated. The science behind cord blood banking is still developing because these treatments have only been performed for a little over ten years and the only way to overcome that is to move forward with research (Stem Cell). Cord blood cells hold the potential of becoming brain and heart cells and combatting serious neurological diseases. The science is young, but one out of every three hundred kids are plagued with cerebral palsy and one of every sixty-eight children battle autism (What It Is). The chance of helping people throughout the world live a better life fuels the need for an increase of support in this budding
When making any decision regarding a child’s future, any parent would (presumably) opt for a choice that increases the child's chances for health and well being. In recent years parents have been offered the option to save umbilical cord blood. This procedure has become known as cord blood banking. Cord blood banking has been discovered to offer many ways to help ensure not only the child’s health, but in some cases, other members of the family as well. Cord blood banking offers a plethora of health benefits that can save a child and their family from suffering the devastating effects of many diseases. Cord blood could, in many cases, essentially save your child's life.
“Sick children whose parents did bank their blood sometimes cannot be used (Moniger, 67). Many blood banks do not tell parents that if their children may develop a cancer or a disease early on in their life that they may not be able to use the cord blood because the blood may be diseased. This risk is one of the main risks that deter parents from paying the cost for banking. Another negative aspect of cord blood collection and banking is that if a mother who delivers twins would like to collect and store her children’s cord blood, she would not be able to. Both babies may have a different cord tissue type and they may be mixed during the collection process making them virtually useless” (The Truth about Cord Blood Banking- Lucie's list, n.d.) . Also, If the mother ever had cancer, she can not have her child’s blood collected. This is because doctors do not want the possibility of the cord blood to be contaminated with the cancer which in turn will contaminate the patient receiving
I’ve done this many times before and it is really easy however, my first time donating I was a little apprehensive, I’m a baby when it comes to pain and wasn’t sure what would actually happen. The process is pretty simple; you answer a questionnaire to see if you are eligible to donate, have you blood pressure taken, and then are given a finger prick to test your
Cord blood is a rich source of blood stem cells. Stem cells are the building blocks of the blood and immune system. They have the ability to develop into other types of cells, so they can help repair tissues, organs, and blood vessels and can be used to treat a host of diseases.
Cord Blood Banking is now a huge epidemic nationally. What was once considered to be medical waste is now what is considered a medical breakthrough. Cord blood is stored in two types of banks, both having their benefits and negative aspects. There are many benefits and positive aspects that accompany the banking cord blood. Many of these benefits include but are not limited to the treatment of many life threatening diseases and disorders such as cerebral palsy and childhood cancer such as leukemia. With positives benefits there also come negative aspects. Many of these include who can receive the transplant, the cost of cord blood, the simple fact that the child who the blood came from may never be able to receive that cord blood, and also
Once the child is born, adult stem cells in the tissues carry-out the necessary growth throughout their life (“What are Some Different Types of Stem Cells?”). Embryonic stem cells can be acquired from an abortion or fertilized eggs left over from in vitro fertilization, which is a process that joins a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm in a laboratory and once it is fertilized, the embryo is injected back into the woman’s womb. Adult stem cells are cells that are for specific cell types, like blood, skin, and muscle, and despite the name, adult cells are in children as well as adults (“Stem Cells Research”). They are limited to the possible cell types that they can become due to their tissue of origin, where as the embryonic stem cells are unlimited to any cell type in the body. There are restraints to the possible uses of adult stem cells due to the fact that they are limited to the number of cell types that they can form and they are difficult to extract from the tissue because they are not abundant (“Stem Cell Information” 5). Stem cells allow for our bodies to repair damaged cells and replicate into different cell types to allow growth throughout our life.
Dr. John Whener (confirmation awaited) will inform the audience about ex-vivo expansion of Cord blood stem cells and discuss the future horizons in Cord Blood Banking and Cellular
Over the past two decades, the stem cells became an important part of a medical research. Today, stem cells are used to assist in treating numerous diseases. The umbilical cord blood can now be saved in special banks to preserve the youngest stem cells for an unlikely event the child later develops a certain kind of illness. Although there has been a lot of talk about research using stem cells, most people don’t come in contact with the topic of cord blood banking. This issue is exclusively presented to expecting parents. I want to use this question to inform unfamiliar readers about cord blood banking and its use in stem cells research. I intend to use this a question as an introduction to this topic in my research essays.
I will request that my (Healthcare Professionals) doctors, midwifes and nurses collects the Cord Blood using the Collection Kit provided by Celligenics.
The topic of blood donation well-researched, with strategies having been devised to try and increase donation rates all over the world. Australia faces a challenging set of circumstances, in which remuneration for donation is illegal (ARCBS, 2013). It is thought this may be a contributing factor to the poor repeat donation rates in youth demographics, for whom altruism is no longer a primary driving factor when considering donation (Russell-Bennett, Hartel, Previte & Russel, 2012).
| Family and friends’ need for blood donation increases young people’s awareness of blood donation.