Now that Canada accepts donations of umbilical cord blood families, Canadians are questioning the differences between donor and cord blood banking family.
Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann, a pediatrician at the Hospital of St. Louis Children in the United States with the knowledge of the cord blood bank, decided that the Family program was in the best interest of his family. Dr. Berchelmann donated his first cord blood of four children, she first thought the donor cord blood bank was for the best.
But after doing more research on her own cord blood, Dr. Berchelmann decided to use a family cord blood bank following the birth of her fifth child. It identified more than 200 studies involving stem cells from cord blood, which are used in clinical trials as a potential therapy for type 1 diabetes, injury to the spinal cord, autism, Alzheimer ' Alzheimer's, and dozens of other diseases - tests that were impossible a decade ago.
By choosing an option of family cord blood banks with her youngest child, Dr. Berchelmann provided his family with exclusive access to a potentially viable source of therapy if ever a family member is suffering from a serious illness.
clinical breakthroughs
When families register with a program of cord blood banks in the family, the cord blood of their baby is set aside for the family alone. This is a significant and beneficial contrast to the banking system of the donor:
Many cord blood samples given are rejected for many reasons, which means the sample never made in the register donor
samples that make it to the register are made available to all families in need. This means that the family that made the donation may be unable to access their own sample
Don cord blood samples are also used by researchers to discover new potential sources of cord blood processing
in many cases, a baby's cord blood can be used to help other family members because of the corresponding gene. But the family loses this option donor cord blood bank
During his research, Dr. Berchelmann found that critics of family cord blood banks rely on outdated data their claims. The search for 2007 suggests that there is 1 chance in 10,000 that the family will use their bank cord blood. But the most recent research disputes that claim and says the child is much more likely to receive a transplant of cells from cord blood stem that was thought initially.
New scientific discoveries are made each year, and the number of diseases that could potentially benefit from cord blood transplants is growing. Dr. Berchelmann was one of many parents who have based their decision on potential future benefits provided by the cord blood bank.