Maddy Wigglesworth was diagnosed with Hurler disease fatal when she was just a toddler. His mother did not expect young children to live to see his 10th birthday, but today it is 12 years old and live a normal life thanks to a transplant of cord blood.
Hurler syndrome is a genetic disease that causes accumulation of sulfates in the body, leading to organ damage and death. It appears in childhood, and affects 1.1 million people worldwide. progressive mental deterioration occurs, and most patients do not live beyond the age of 10.
Fortunately, the mother of Maddy Kym discovered the cord blood bank at the Medical Center of Duke University, who was able to provide the family with a sample to treat disease Maddy. Currently, the center is the only cord blood bank in North Carolina, but hospitals across the state are able to send their collections there for storage.
Duke researcher Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, said cord blood transplants has a much easier way to treat genetic diseases and severe blood. Bone marrow transplants can often be painful for the donor and the recipient, so that the cord blood is a more appropriate option for younger patients.
Kym is recognizing that a mother somewhere out there, decided to bank cord blood of her child, so that Maddy would be able to have the chance to live a healthy life . She became an advocate of cord blood banking, and hopes more mothers out there will consider the option.
http://wake.mync.com/site/Wake/news/story/51317/umbilical-cord -blood-gifts-save life /