What Are Cord Blood And Stem Cells?
Cord blood refers to the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and in the placenta after it is separated from the newborn following childbirth. Typically, the umbilical cord and placenta (also known as the afterbirth) are discarded after a child is born. The blood found in these organs is rich in a special cell type called stem cells. Not only do stem cells have the ability to generate all types of blood cells, but they can be used to treat a variety of life-threatening diseases, including leukemia, other cancers, blood and immune disorders and, more recently, sickle cell anemia.
Welcome Expectant Families : Saving Cord Blood
There exists only one chance in a lifetime to collect and preserve your baby's umbilical cord blood (also called cord or placental blood). This irreplaceable source of stem cells will help preserve the cleanest, most natural form of cellular health for the rest of your child's life. If not collected at birth and preserved, this unique opportunity will be lost.
Change your diet
Forget chocolate as an aphrodisiac: if your libido is lacking it could be fruit and vegetables that you need. Iron carries oxygen to all cells in the body and is needed for arousal, B vitamins help you feel good, in particular,B6, which helps regulate sex hormone functions. Calcium is required for the muscle contraction associated with orgasm, essential fatty acids are needed for acute senses, and chromium is needed for energy and libido. However, it’s not uncommon for
modern women to be short of one if not all of these nutrients. A good healthy diet, rich in fruit and vegetables, is a good place to start, but see In Bed With The Food Doctors by Ian Barber and Vicky Edgson, (Collins And Brown, £14.99) for specific suggestions.
higher death rates
Young men worldwide have higher death rates than women but the causes vary according to their age and where they live, researchers said on Tuesday.
Accidents and suicide are the leading killers in men aged 15 to 34, while deaths from
illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and chronic liver disease rise sharply in 35-44-year-olds.
“In every country there is an excess of male deaths due to potentially avoidable reasons. The main causes of death are those that are more or less directly attributable to lifestyle and risk taking,” said Alan White of Leeds Metropolitan University in England.
Britney Spears - Rough Pregnancy
Looks like Britney Spears might be having another rough pregnancy.
The “Oops!... I Did It Again” crooner went into false labor on July 15, according to In Touch Weekly, and now has her doctor on speed dial. “She's fine now,” a “family insider” told the mag. “Britney started cramping. She had a real scare.” Spears also had a few health scares during her first pregnancy.
Spears, who is seven months pregnant, learned that she needs to cut down on the Cheetos. “After indulging in junk food during her first two trimesters, she hired a nutritionist to help her follow a well-balanced diet, a “pal” told ITW. “She wasn't eating enough vegetables.” Spears’ doc also told her that she may have to spend the last month of her pregnancy on bed rest, but, says the friend, “Britney is determined to enjoy the rest of her pregnancy and stay healthy after she gives birth.”
Britney
Parece a Lanzas Britney podría estar teniendo otro embarazo áspero.
¡El "¡Ay!!... Lo hice Otra vez” vocalista melódico entró en el trabajo falso el 15 de julio, según En el Semanario de Toque, y ahora tiene a su doctor en el disco de velocidad. “Ella es fina ahora,” “una persona enterada de familia” dijo a mag. “El Britney comenzó cramping. Ella tenía un verdadero susto.” Las lanzas también tenían unos sustos de salud durante su primer embarazo.
Las lanzas, quién es siete meses embarazados, aprendieron que ella tiene que reducir en el Cheetos. “Después de complacer en la comida basura durante sus dos primeros trimestres, ella alquiló a un dietista para ayudarle a seguir una dieta bien balanceada, "un amigo" dijo ITW. “Ella no comía a bastantes verduras.” El doctor de las lanzas también le dijo que ella debería gastar el mes pasado de su embarazo en el resto de cama, pero, dice el amigo, “Britney es determinado para disfrutar del resto de su embarazo y permanencia sana después de que ella da a luz.”
Melanomerkrankung
The individual illness profile determines the individual Behandlungsmoglichkeiten
If you might bring in experience which options of treatment stand with a Melanomerkrankung today according to topical state of the medical sciences to the Verfugung if you might know whether all important information was also given you action-essentially and has you up to now also really all Moglichkeiten ausgeschopft, then you should take up with us contact (-> form requirement). Note, besides, please, however, that we wore out no consultations on the phone.
We ourselves wore out no treatments, because we are neither a clinic nor a practise, but a scientific research institute. We provide Fur especially stored illness situations of a Melanomerkrankung ublicherweise within the scope of a Sachverstandigengutachten an individual profile of your illness only on account of present investigation data and data of treatment (we call to this one "Melanom expert's assessment" or in English " Melanoma expert's assessment report "). A such minutiose processing of your individual illness data is the first and most important step to the Einschatzung of the existing illness state, comparably in the possibly processing of an ungelosten criminal case or that of a menacing weather situation. Only with knowledge of all data and signs the individual illness state can become properly eingeschatzt. If one does not do this, erhoht to itself fur the patient the risk to be supplied only according to a "pattern" and to gamble away improvement views or even healing views with it often also. Unfortunately, somebody takes from itself in the taglichen expiry routine in clinics and practise equipment barely the notige time, a such processing in the isolated case wore out also and on it building up train around train an individual strategy of treatment to sketch which can be understood then also by the affected patient and be carried. Only much too haufig is begun rash and schematically with a treatment without being in the clear what one wants to reach, actually, how long the treatment durchgefuhrt should become and above all: with the help of which findings data, actually, effectiveness or ineffectiveness should be measured. Instead, it is often treated in the "blue" - everything stays open or is vague and white nobody what is reached, actually, or. realistically it can be reached. One should make clear this situation to himself: Nobody kame on the idea to establish a house without architect's plan of an architect or to want a criminal case without meticulous securing of evidence to loose ones. However, Fur the treatment of a cancer illness the "probeer principle" should count? We do not believe this.
A sachverstandige second opinion as academically sound Sachverstandigenbegutachtung is that fur all which lacks the present Behandlungsgerust or seems much too unstable, an important step in a new dimension of personlicher own control of an upcoming care of treatment. We wore out the works necessary in addition on "act base" (= after presentation of findings reports) - in a contemporary way, extensively and academically verifiable. After the gutachterliche processing of your illness case ubersenden we to you the certificate by UPS incl. all illness data (as an expression and on CD-ROM-Datentrager). If gewunscht, besides, we discuss personlich with you in all Ausfuhrlichkeit the material state of the illness and give you the Moglichkeit, to the Verfugung standing Behandlungsmoglichkeiten mutually abzuwagen to judge this in view of own situation.
Melanom-Zellen
Der Telegraf lieferte kürzlich einen einleitenden populären Wissenschaftsartikel auf den Implikationen und naher Zukunft der Telomere-Forschung:
Innerhalb all und jedes Ihrer Trillionen von Zellen sitzt ein molekulares Stundenglas. Die Zeit, wenn all und jede Zelle aufhören muss sich zu teilen, kommt näher mit jedem Korn von Sand, der durch diese winzige Uhr fällt.
Die Körner sind Briefe des DNA-Codes, die diese Zellchronometer zurückgehen. Wissenschaftler nennen sie telomeres und es gibt gute Beweise, dass sie in Krebs schief gehen, so dass, sie bestechend, Tumoren gemacht werden konnten, um auf der Liste abzulaufen. Früher in diesem Monat schaffte eine Mannschaft in Kalifornien, die Ausbreitung des Melanom-Hautkrebss zu hemmen, indem sie diesen Mechanismus ausnutzte.
Das längere Leben für Ihre Zellen ist nicht notwendigerweise ein gutes Ding - Krebs-Zellen sind eine unsterbliche Maschinerie Amok gelaufen, zum Beispiel; eine schließlich tödliche Gefahr für die fein abgestimmte Biochemie, die von Zellumsatz und Lebenszyklen abhängt. Die Melanom-Forschung erwähnt ist oben weiterführende Literatur wert, wenn Sie sich für das Sehen einer Seite der Telomere-Forschung in der Handlung interessieren:
In der Studie fanden Forscher durch den Genausdruck Kopierfräs- in Mäusen, dass acht am Traubenzucker-Metabolismus eingeschlossene Gene gesenkt wurden, als telomerase in Hautkrebs-Zellen unterdrückt wurde. Das Ergebnis war eine Rückkehr der Pigmentation, oft abwesend in fortgeschrittenen Melanomen, und Krebs-Zellen, die ihr metastatic Potential verlieren.
"Wir führten einen telomerase Hemmstoff in Melanom-Zellen ein und fanden, dass, telomerase unterdrückend, Melanom-Zellen anfangen sich zu ändern," sagte Kashani-Sabet. "In einigen Melanomen wird Pigmentation verloren. Wir fanden, dass, wenn wir im Stande sind, telomerase zu schließen, die Zellen Funktionen vorher verloren wie die Fähigkeit wiedergewinnen, Pigment zu machen."
"Als die Zellen geworden auch acidic von der Zunahme von Milchsäure können die Proteine, die Pigment-Produktion kontrollieren, abgedreht werden, vorschlagend, dass Traubenzucker-Metabolismus eine Schlüsselrolle, wenn verbunden, mit telomerase in der Metastase spielt."
Das Schließen der Metastase ist ein sehr großes Geschäft in der Krebs-Behandlung. Eine Reihe anderer telomere-verwandter Strategien ist jetzt unter der Erforschung für die Verhinderung oder Behandlung des Krebss. Verschieden von vorigen Generationen der Forschung werden diese Annäherungen beruhend auf jemals genauere Kenntnisse der biochemischen Mechanismen an der Wurzel des Krebss vorsichtig geschneidert.
Aber was telomeres und alt machend? Vom Telegraf-Artikel:
Andere glauben, dass telomeres den Schlüssel zum Altern selbst halten kann. Eine Mannschaft an der Braunen Universität in der Rhode Insel berichtete kürzlich, dass Zellen mit fehlerhaftem telomeres ungefähr vier Prozent des Bindegewebes in fünfjährigen Pavianen zusammensetzten. Aber in 30 Jahren alt erhob sich diese Zahl ebenso hoch wie 20 Prozent, Beweise zur Verfügung stellend, um die Theorie zu unterstützen, dass alte Zellenhilfe alte Körper macht.
Wenn telomeres ablaufen, werden Zellen "alternd". Unter einem Mikroskop sehen sie aufgebläht aus. Analysieren Sie die Art, wie sie Gene verwenden und man Änderungen sehen kann, die die alternden Zellen Faktoren verbergen lassen, die Gewebe lassen sich verschlechtern. Weil sie seit Jahren herumlungern, anstatt zu tun, stirbt etwas Nützliches wie, diese alten Zellen können gut Krankheit über das Alter unterstützen.
Vielleicht kann eine Weise, telomeres umkehren zu lassen, gefunden werden, den Höhepunkt der Suche nach dem Elixier der Jugend kennzeichnend, obwohl es noch sehr viel Argument darüber gibt, ob es Altern ist, das telomeres verkürzt, oder ob kurze telomeres Altern verursachen.
Das Argument wird durch die weitere Forschung gelöst - dort überzeugen, dass Positionen an beiden Seiten, für die ganze ursprüngliche Form der telomere Theorie des Alterns größtenteils aufgegeben worden ist. Es scheint klar, dass das Altern noch viele mitverursachende Umstände hat, und das alles andere als betreffs, wo verkürzt, telomeres entschieden ist, bauen das Bild - anders ein als als eine Ursache des Krebss, d. h. wo die Wissenschaft ebenso endgültig ist, wie es in einem sehr aktiven Feld kommt.
Unter den Forschungsgruppen, die sehen, sind Therapien für die Wurzelursachen des degenerativen Alterns, das aus der telomere Wissenschaft erscheint, junge Gesellschaften wie der Phönix Biomolecular, Gebirgswissenschaften und Telomolecular. Sie sollten das ansehen, was sie über ihre Gebiete der Forschung sagen müssen.
How much cord blood is required to ensure that there are enough stem cells for treatment?
Healthcord recommends 115g to 250g of cord blood be collected. In the event that the physician is unable to collect 115g, Healthcord will inform the client and discuss the options. Healthcord is set up with the latest state-of-the art laboratory and all CD34+ cell analysis is done directly by Healthcord upon receipt of the cord blood sample. Thus, Healthcord is able to determine how much stem cells are present in the sample. If the stem cell concentration is high, then it does not matter if the volume of the cord blood is low. Also, with advancing technology, scientists may in the future be able to amplify low quantities of stem cells, so the volume of cord blood collected may not be an important factor for future treatment.
Is the collection process safe for the child and mother?
The collection process takes place after the child is delivered and the umbilical cord is cut, so the cord blood collection procedure is absolutely safe for both the mother and the child.
What if the child is delivered by C-section?
The cord blood can be collected even if the child is delivered by C-section. This procedure is safe for both the mother and the child. Full protocols and supplies for vaginal and C-section delivery are included in all Healthcord Cord Blood Collection Kits.
What is HLA matching?
HLA matching is used to ensure that there is a match between a donor and recipient to prevent the chance of rejection of the donated cells. If you choose to bank your child's cord blood, you will eliminate the possibility that the donated stem cells are not HLA matched to your child. Stem cells from your child will always be a perfect match to you child. By banking your child's cord blood, your child's own stem cells will be ready for use at all times during the lifetime of your child.
Can by child's cord blood stem cells be used for siblings or other family members?
There is a high probability that your child's cord blood stem cells can be used for siblings and other family members. Your child's cord blood stem cells will be a perfect match to your child. However, it may also be very useful for other members of your family. There is a 25% chance that your child's cord blood can be used for one of his/her siblings, and there is also a high chance that your child's cord blood stem cells can be used for parents or grandparents.
Should everyone store cord blood?
There is always a chance that a child or other family member may develop an illness or cancer which will require stem cell therapy. Banking a child's cord blood is a preventative measure for peace of mind and security. Once your child's precious cord blood stem cells are banked, they are safe, they are a perfect match to your child, and they ready for immediate use upon request in the event that the stem cells are ever required.
Who has the right to use the cord blood?
Your child's cord blood is reserved for your family's use, and you have full control over its usage while your child is a minor. Once your child reaches the age of majority, the stem cells belong to your child, and you child will have full control over the use and storage of the stem cells.
Why is it beneficial for my child to have his/her own stem cells for future use?
In the event that your child ever requires stem cells, it is often difficult or even impossible to find a perfect match from a bone marrow donor or the umbilical cord blood from another donor. Your child's own stem cells are a perfect match to your child with no chance of rejection. By banking your child's cord blood, you are ensuring that your child will have a supply of his/her own stem cells which are a perfect match to himself/herself which can be used for transplantation and therapy without fear of rejection or the inability to find a matching donor in time to treat the disease.
At what time is the cord blood collected?
Cord blood is collected by your physician from the umbilical cord and placenta immediately after the birth of your child.
How is the cord blood collected?
After your child is born, the physician will cut the umbilical cord. Your physician will collect the cord blood from the umbilical cord and placenta using special blood bags. The blood bags and all necessary supplies for proper cord blood collection is provided in Healthcord's Cord Blood Collection Kit. After the cord blood is collected, your physician will package it in the Healthcord Cord Blood Kit for delivery to Healthcord for processing and banking.
Why choose to store your child's cord blood stem cells?
Your child's cord blood stem cells are only present during birth. By choosing to save your child's cord blood stem cells, you will have the peace of mind that these precious cells are preserved and readily available in the event that your child or another family member needs them in the future. If the cord blood stem cells are not banked, these precious cells will be discarded after birth. By banking your child's cord blood, you will be able to take advantege of the medical treatments that are currently available using stem cells as well as emerging stem cells treatments that will become available in the future.
What role will stem cells play in the future of medicine?
At the moment, stem cells are used in the treatment of over 40 cancers, immune disorders, and genetic disorders. As technology progresses, it is likely that the field of stem cells therapy will become more advanced, and the future uses of stem cells can be limitless. Research in stem cell therapy include usage for treatment of heart diseases, spinal cord damage, stroke, diabetes, and muscular dystrophy.
How does cord blood stem cells compare to other sources of stem cells?
Cord blood stem cells from your baby will be a perfect match to him/her when it is needed. Harvesting of cord blood is safer and more efficient than harvesting bone marrow from a donor. Once banked, it will become readily available whenever needed, with little or no chance of rejection. Furthermore, cord blood stem cells are not only a perfect match to your baby, but it has an increased probability of a match for the baby's siblings and can potentially be used for the baby's parents or grandparents.
What types diseases can be treated with stem cells are use stem cells as part of the treatment?
Stem cells are early stage cells which have the capability of differentiating into many different cell types. Stem cells have been used in the treatment of numerous diseases, including cancers and genetic disorders.
Why are stem cells medically important?
Stem cells are currently used to treat over 40 life-threatening diseases, including cancers and genetic disorders. Stem cells are found in high concentrations in a child's cord blood and can be used at any time later on in the life of your child, if required, to treat diseases.
Your child's stem cells are a perfect match to your child, and in the event that your child ever needs a stem cell transplant in the future, there is no need to find a bone marrow donor. It is often difficult to find a matching bone marrow donor, and often, even if a donor is found, there is a risk that the graft will be rejected. By banking your child's own stem cells now, you are saving your child's precious cord blood stem cells and insuring your child's health.
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are early stage cells which have the capability of differentiating into many different cell types, and have much medical significance.
What is cord blood and why is it valuable?
Cord blood is the blood that is found in the umbilical cord and placenta after a child is delivered. Unless you choose to bank your child's valuable cord blood, these valuable cells will be thrown away after the birth of your child. Cord blood is special because it contains high concentrations of medically important cells known as stem cells. There is only once in the lifetime of a child that his/her cord blood is available for banking. After the birth of your child, you have the opportunity to save and preserve these valuable cells in the event that your child or someone else in your family needs them later on in life to treat a disease.
Your Cord Blood Collection Kit
Upon receipt by our laboratory, your
cord blood kit is processed under stringent quality controlled conditions. Each cord blood kit is individually bar code labeled with unique identifiers. Our laboratory technicians will individually examine all components of the kit to ensure that everything has been received.
Temperature Monitor
To ensure the quality of your cord blood, each kit contains an electronic temperature monitor to record the temperature of the kit during transport. The temperature readings are verified to ensure that the kit was received under adequate conditions.
Sterility Check
The sterility of your child's cord blood sample is verified to ensure that the banked specimen is sterile for future use.
Cell Count
Using state of the art equipment, a cell count is performed on your baby's cord blood before and after processing to analyze the cellular content and components of your baby's cord blood.
CD34+ Stem Cell Analysi
s
Healthcord is equipped with advanced Flow Cytometry technology. The number of CD34+ stem cells in your baby's cord blood is determine with flow cytometry analysis. This analysis will determine whether there is an adequate number of stem cells in your baby's cord blood sample for banking. This process will also provide you with information regarding how many stem cells are in the sample to be banked.
Volume Reduction
Your baby's stem cells are then isolated using a special extraction procedure. This process removes red blood cells and plasma from your baby's cord blood sample, leaving behind a purified and concentrated sample of your baby's stem cells for banking. 1. Your Collection Kit2. Temperature Monitor3. Sterility Check4. Cell Count5. CD34+ Stem Cell Analysis6. Volume Reduction7. Cryogenic Freezing8. Storage9. Congratulations!
Cryogenic Freezing
Your baby's stem cells are then carefully cryogenically frozen using advanced computer controlled cryogenic freezing technology under precisely controlled conditions.
Storage
Your baby's stem cells are now ready for long term storage. Healthcord is equipped with the most advanced vapour phase cryogenic storage vaults called "dewars".
Congratulations!
Your baby's stem cells are now safely stored and ready for use when and if your child ever needs it.
What is Graft versus Host Disease and how does cord blood banking prevent this?
Graft versus Host Disease is a disease which can occur after a bone marrow transplant. By banking a child's cord blood, this disease is prevented because the cord blood is a perfect match to your child and is not donated from a different individual. This will increase the survival rate of the recipient and ensure a greater chance that the transplant will be successful.
When is the cord blood collected?
The cord blood is collected immediately after the birth of your child and after the umbilical cord is cut.
How is cord blood collected?
After the child is born, the umbilical cord is cut and clamped, and the cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord and placenta using a needle and blood bag.
Will the physician know how to collect the cord blood?
The cord blood collection procedure is safe and very simple and only takes a few minutes to complete. Most physicians are familiar with collection cord blood, but in the event that your physician is not familiar, a complete protocol is included in the Healthcord Cord Blood Collection Kit. If your physician has any questions, he or she is able to contact Healthcord directly at any time.
Why does Healthcord use the closed blood bag technique to collect cord blood?
The closed blood bag technique is the latest method of cord blood collection, and it is the method of choice because it is sterile and efficient compared to older techniques. Healthcord has implemented the closed blood bag technique for all collections.
Collecting Cord Blood Stem Cells
The Registry is the only cord blood bank that offers caregivers a choice of either the syringe or bag collection method. Although we recommend the syringe, which generally provides an increased collection volume, we recognize that some physicians prefer the bag method.
Your patient will bring the cord blood collection kit to the hospital when it is time to deliver. The kit contains all the items you will need to collect the baby's cord blood.
After the baby has been born and the cord has been clamped and cut, the blood will be drawn from the umbilical cord into a syringe or blood bag. The procedure usually takes less than five minutes and can be performed in vaginal or cesarean deliveries and for multiple births. You should not alter normal birthing procedures for cord blood collection.
Cord Blood Registry has been the leader in developing optimal processing and banking techniques to ensure the highest quality stem cell storage available to your patients
About Cord Blood Banking
Cord blood banking is the process of collecting the blood from a newborn's umbilical cord immediately after delivery and cryogenically storing it for future potential medical uses. Cord blood, which is rich in stem cells, is usually discarded along with the umbilical cord and the placenta after birth.
Collections can take place after vaginal or cesarean births and caregivers do not alter routine delivery procedures to collect cord blood. Because the collection occurs after the cord has been clamped and cut, there is no risk or pain to the infant or mother.
Thousands of families are banking their newborns'
cord blood because it contains stem cells that are unique to the newborn, and genetically related to their families. Cord blood banking enables parents to preserve these precious stem cells for their own potential use for the many developing applications of stem cell technologies, such as its use in treating heart disease and Alzheimer's. It also serves as a type of safeguard in case of future need for treatment of the dozens of cancers and blood disorders that are already being treated with
cord blood stem cells.
