Banking, when you think of this word, all you can think of is savings. How odd; when you can save, take out, invest as well as get other services from banks that we deal with. The reason for this word association is because we have been taught to save our money in banks rather than at home in our piggy bangs. Science and technology have made great in-roads in the health care sector and people have been benefitting from these scientific breakthroughs all over the world. One such invention today, Cord blood Banking has been making waves all over the world.
There was a time when people faced a lot of issues when diagnosed with life threatening diseases like cancer, blood disorders, where the body’s defense mechanism could not generate cells to fight the disease. However this scenario has been changing for the better, what with the introduction of cord blood banking in India too. If you are new to this term then it makes sense to understand it first. To do so here are a few details about this life saving revolutionary technique.
What is Cord Blood?
The blood that remains in the placenta and the umbilical cord after childbirth is known as cord blood. This blood is a rich and easiest source of harvesting stem cells that help in treating genetic and hematopoietic disorders. In other words it is a life saver that needs to be saved today for a better tomorrow.
What is a Cord Blood Bank?
A cord blood bank is the place where the blood collected from the umbilical cord after childbirth is stored. It is much like any other blood bank where the blood is harvested for different cells like red and white blood cells and platelets. In the same way the cord blood is source from which the technicians harvest stem cells that help in regeneration of cells and defence mechanism in our body when required. These stem cells are saved and kept frozen until it is needed by the person for whom it was banked in the first place. Cord blood banking in India is comparatively new, while people all over the world have been banking cord blood for a few years now.
Though new cord blood banking in India, has been gaining popularity and most new couples are planning to save cord blood for their children. This cord blood can help the child in treat nearly 80 different ailments like leukaemia, lymphoma, immune system disorders etc. Cord blood banking is a need today since we are facing a time where anyone can be diagnosed with life threatening disease anytime. The only way to combat these diseases for sure is the stem cells available in the blood collected from the cord at child birth.
The technique involves multiplying these stem cells by different methods to build up tissues. It is the safest of all adopted methods because one can escape the chemical procedures during the treatment. Cord Blood Bank helps in preserving these tissues. There are multiple cord blood banks in India, some are looked after by private companies and several others are managed by the public sector. They preserve it for a course of period and charge a minimal fee to meet their costing needs.
Next, when the person would want to use these stem cells, they multiply it to the double and keep the same amount of cells with them that they pass on to the person. These stem cells have this inherent characteristic of reproducing themselves limitlessly. It is on this principle that the Cord Blood Bank works. They reproduce these stem cells to preserve it for future. In this way, one can also reuse these stem cells so as to remain ensured throughout their life. It is a new mantra to spend an assured healthy life.
Cord Blood Banks help in giving the first healthy gift to the baby child by their parents. These stem cells are present in the umbilical cord that joins the baby to the mother. It is preserved by the Cord Blood Banks in their laboratories. They allot you the specific number of your preserved cells. They are the most reliable treatment one can afford as it helps the person to fight back the life threatening diseases like Cancer.
The choice of Cord Blood Bank should be made wisely. The private companies charge the person who wants to preserve their stem cell with minimal fees while the public companies give this facility for free. However, the determined precautions are more accurately followed by the private companies. Hence, one should be very sure while making a choice. The specified temperature and an extremely hygienic atmosphere is a must needed environment for the preservation of Stem Cells. As this method is only a decade old in India, public firms are not aptly advanced for maintaining the set atmosphere. However, in the near future we can expect them to work on these issues.