Stem Cells and Your Health Future
I think we are all pretty familiar with the controversy surrounding the idea of treating diseases with stem cells. The media tends to keep this issue in the spot light every few years around election time whether it be Congressional seats or the Presidential race. I get very frustrated with the media though because they tend to focus only on one type of stem cells - fetal - and not all types of stem cells. There are many great forms of stem cells out there that would not be controversial to use such as those found in Cord blood. These cells are found in the umbilical cord and can be harvested after the birth of the baby without any negative consequences.
I personally have only recently even heard about this idea and find it fascinating. Many people are opting through private organizations to preserve their child’s umbilical cord in case research is approved and studies and trials do find uses and cures for diseases through these cells. If you do not mind I would like to share with you some interesting findings I have found via the Cryo-Cell website. Cyro-Cell is one of the world’s largest and most established family cord blood banks with over 150,000 clients worldwide. If you are interested in saving your child’s umbilical cord I would suggest visiting their website after you finish reading this post.
- Umbilical cord stem cells are known to treat 70 diseases, including leukemia, anemia, lymphoma, diabetes and cerebral palsy,
- About 30,000 people a year in the United States are diagnosed with a disease that can be treated with cord blood stem cells,
- By the year 2015, there will be 10,000 cord blood transplants world-wide per year using publicly banked cord blood
I thought those were some pretty interesting findings and thoughts on this subject. While the value of stem cells via other means is still up for debate, I think from what I have been reading online that the value of cord blood is definitely worth opening up more research so that we can help find cures for diseases.
