You are about to be a mother, and your excitement is through the roof. While symptoms like the dreaded morning sickness are too obvious to ignore, you might have some other questions. Most expectant mothers want to know when their pregnancy will be visible to others. 

If you’re not ready to announce your pregnancy to the world, then don’t worry. It’s going to be a while before people start noticing. However, according to experts, every pregnancy is different. That means the baby bump will be visible early in some cases and slightly later in others.

Let’s dive deep into the factors that influence your bump timeline.

When Do You Start Showing During Your First Pregnancy?

The number of pregnancies you’ve had determines when your baby bump will show.

In most cases, your baby bump will not show in the first trimester of your first pregnancy. It’s only when you reach the second trimester will your baby bump start showing. This will most likely happen between weeks 12 and 16.

If you are a person of lower weight, chances are your baby bump will start showing closer to the 12th week. If you weigh more than the average person, then you will start showing around 16 weeks.

When Will You Start Showing During Your Second Pregnancy?

If you are not a first-time mom, don’t be surprised if your bump starts showing early. It is perfectly normal to develop a baby bump in the first trimester.

The muscles in your stomach get stretched during your first pregnancy. Sometimes, even after delivery, the muscles don’t return to their original size. This may be the reason why you may get a baby bump earlier than usual.

When Do You Start to Show When Carrying Twins?

If you are expecting twins, people might notice your baby bump in the first trimester. To accommodate more than one baby, the uterus will grow more, which in turn will affect the timeline of your bump. Compared to someone expecting a singleton, who may not show until the fourth month, you may notice a bump in the 6^th week.

Why Do Some People Show Earlier?

Abominable bloating could be a reason why your baby bump shows earlier than expected. It’s nothing to worry about as the body retains more fluids when hormones increase. So, you may confuse your bloated belly with a baby bump.

To stop this from happening, drink plenty of water, eat more fiber, and eat smaller meals. Another important factor affecting the timeline of your baby bump is the uterus. If your uterus tilts towards your back, you will take longer to show. If your uterus tilts towards the front, you may show earlier.

Any confusion regarding your due date could also be a deciding factor.

Baby Bump Progression

Usually, your baby bump starts to show after 12 weeks of pregnancy. By week 20, you will start noticing some real change.  As your due date approaches, then is when your belly really starts to show. It’s because your belly will grow to accommodate your growing baby. Remember, your body retains fat to nourish the baby.

Watching your stomach grow can be super exciting. However, it can also be awkward at times. When someone starts to show varies from body to body, so don’t think about it too much. Learn to love the way you look and accept your changing body.

By choosing the proper maternity fashion, you can still look your best. If you feel like it, exercise and release those much-needed endorphins. Self-care is essential and shouldn’t be ignored at any cost. If needed, consult a doctor.

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Over the years, stem cell transplantation has been considered a promising approach towards treating problems with regard to malignant and non-malignant disorders of the blood and bone marrow. These stem cells, which are used for transplant, mostly comes from the bone marrow, the peripheral blood (bloodstream), or a newborn baby’s umbilical cord blood.

Bone marrow transplant has been considered as a preferential treatment option for a long time. However, because of the primitiveness and relative agelessness of cord blood stem cells, such therapy has emerged as a strong contender of bone marrow in treating lethal diseases. Such unique properties of stem cell have poised them as potential therapeutic options for disorders like cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s, Autism, Parkinson’s and others, through extensive research.

Why Are Researchers Thinking in This Line of Stem Cell Therapy?

In order to treat a condition, at the outset, mention must be made of both bone marrow and cord blood stem cell transplants. Essentially, both the transplantations are carried out to replace the unhealthy cells with the healthy ones. But, while making a decision to choose the better one, different criteria are made for evaluation:

Painless Collection

The bone marrow is the gelatinous tissue inside the bones. In preparation of a bone marrow transplant, the marrow (with stem cells) is extracted either from the donor or from the patient’s own bones (hips and leg bones), under general anaesthesia, through a series of needle insertions. This is an extremely painful invasive procedure. The extracted bone marrow is then filtered, processed and used.

On the other hand – After the baby’s delivery, a sterile needle is inserted into the cord vein and the blood left behind in the cord and placenta is collected in a bag. Without causing any pain or risk to the mother or the baby, (non-invasive procedure), the unit is collected and transported to the lab for processing, quality testing, cryogenic-preservation and dispensation when needed.

Going by the basics, earlier, when babies were delivered, it was prevalent to treat the umbilical cord (with the blood) as medical waste. However, with the advent of cord blood stem cell therapy, the scenario has changed.

Low Graft Versus Host Disease

Graft versus Host Disease is a serious complication during a transplant, where the donated stem cells view the recipient’s body as foreign body and hence attack the recipient.  It has been estimated to be fatal in up to 40% patients, especially in cases of bone marrow transplant, where an immune system response is triggered against the tissues and other organs resulting in complications, even death. However, since cord blood stem cells are more primitive than bone marrow, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is not observed after an umbilical cord blood transplantation.

Easier Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Matching

A marker, the immune system uses to recognise foreign cells. A close match between a donor’s and a patient’s own HLA markers is of utmost importance for a successful transplant. This match promotes the growth of healthy blood cells and reduces the chances of GVHD. In case of bone marrow transplant research has shown that, 7 out of 10 patients, may not have a fully matched donor in their family. Whereas, since the cord blood stem cells are considered to be purer, more adaptable and active expression of fewer HLA Loci, the possibility of finding a suitable match within the family and siblings is much higher. ^[3]

Availability

Since the umbilical cord blood is nascent, a question that often comes up about the storage of cord blood is – How long can the stem cells be maintained in frozen form and still be viable for transplant? In a corresponding response to this question, scientists say that, with proper freezing and storage methods (in liquid nitrogen), the cord blood stem cells can be preserved for decades or, maybe for an indefinite period of time. The current data shows that cord blood stem cells stored for 21-23.5 years have shown to retain biological properties similar to that when they were cryopreserved. This means that, if the need arises, the individual or his/her family can use these stem cells for treatment even after two decades of these cells being stored.

These and other advancements in research where there are so many diseases and disorders, whose treatment is in the advanced stages of clinical trials, makes stem cell therapy through cord blood banking, one of the most responsible decisions that you can take as would-be parents.  Read on to find out why Cordlife, a brand known for its premium-ness should be your 1st choice.

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The umbilical cord is a tube-like structure that binds the unborn child to the mom’s uterus. Immediately after the birth the umbilical cord is clamped and cut. This procedure is painless but after cutting of the umbilical cord a small stump is left behind. This stump is of bluish colour and is about a quarter inch to an inch wide in size.

After the birth, the cord stump usually takes almost 1-2 weeks to dry and fall of its own. However proper care is needed while the baby has the stump attached to it. Preventing irritation and infection of the cord stump will require a little care and attention.

Most of the time, in the first few days after birth, the umbilical cord stump dries up and falls off. However, in some cases it may sometimes lead to infection. This can trigger swelling and inflammation of the region around the cord. Cord may discharge some pale and foul smelling liquid from the swelling. Oozing or mild bleeding may also occur.

At this point the paediatrician will prescribe some medicines. Along with that following directions will be advised for taking proper care of cord at home in order to cure the infection as soon as possible.

Cleaning the cord stump

Paediatricians might advise to clean the cord stump by rubbing alcohol. However, sometimes alcohol causes irritation to some of the babies. At that time the doctor might advice you for some alternative methods such as cleaning the pus with moist cloth or cotton swab. Then apply ointment after cleaning the area.

Maintain the cord stump dry

Keep the cord exposed to the air. This enables the cord base to dry quickly and decreases the period of time needed to heal. Use diapers with a unique cut or fold the diaper of your baby at the area will assist maintain your cord infection from getting worse.

Provide sponge baths

Do not give showers to your child until the umbilical cord has dried and fall off. Even if your child is taking a shower, cover the cord region entirely to keep it dry. Also, you must not wipe the cord area to keep it clean as it may lead to irritation.

Let the Umbilical Cord Heal Naturally

When the cord is hanging, you might think to pick out the dried cord, but it is harmful. So, keep it as it is and let it dry out by its own. Resist yourself from pulling off the cord stump.

As the cord stump is drying, you can usually see a little amount of blood near the area of cord stump. When the cord stump falls out it might bleed a bit, but don’t worry it happens. On the other hand, if you find that the area of the cord stump is oozing pus, the skin swells up and become red or it develops a red lump, then immediately contact with the doctor. Immediate consultation and treatment are necessary at this point to prevent spreading of the infection. This will help you understand the underlying issue of causing the infection and to know about the remedies to cure the infection.

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There was a huge growth in the cord blood industry during the period of the mid-late 2000s. Through the past few years, the cord blood market had become compact and matured. In addition to North Asia and Southeast Asia, the growth had been also seen in North American as well as the European countries. As the cord blood industry has significantly matured throughout the world, so there are some opportunities and threats that are laying impact on the industry.

If you are thinking that how there can be any threat for such a useful process of cord blood banking? Then it can be said that

“YOU KNOW NOTHING”

and there are lots of threats that include:

• Low consumption rate of the cord blood units which are stored.
• The cord blood transplantation is an expensive procedure.
• Requirement of accreditation increases the cost structure of the cord blood banks. To obtain an industry accreditation a cord blood bank needs a huge expense.
• Cord blood has now become the most expensive products in the market which has led to the increase in the market pressure on the companies.
• The competition in price is another threat because there are many competitors offering discounts in their price plans.
• Other factors of threat are continuous requirement of accreditation, natural calamities that can harm the infrastructure, inadequate knowledge among the people about cord blood banking and many others.

In addition, there are some opportunities too:

• HLA mismatch transplants become less as the stem cells are used from the family.
• Occurrence of GVHD becomes less and now-a-days it becomes easy to treat GVHD.
• Increase in the regulatory pathways for stem cell transplantation.
• Clinical trials on stem cell therapy are ongoing to approve more diseases that could be treated by stem cell therapy.
• Improving the knowledge of stem cell therapy among common people.

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Aplastic anaemia is a rare form of anaemia in which the amount of red blood cells reduces in the bone marrow. It stops the blood cell production and initiates fatigue that can further lead to various kinds of infections and excess amount of bleeding. This can happen at any age and at any time. So, the cord blood preservation will help to initiate the therapy for the diseased people as soon as possible.

Nowadays the stem cells collected from the umbilical cord blood can be used for treating even a critical aplastic anaemia that is followed by acute failure of the liver and the transplantation of the liver.

Acute aplastic anaemia is a deadly disease which requires an immediate treatment prior to the admission of the patient. The reason behind is that this disease is not detected in the early stage and when detected it already becomes severe which needed an immediate treatment. It has been reported from various settings that there are up to 28% of the recipients those who had undergone through orthotopic liver transplants. The cord blood also provides the ability of doing liver transplantation of the children those are suffering from aplastic secondary anaemia.

As stated by Fruchtman et al. (2004), transplantation of cord blood was used in a vast manner for the genetic as well as the acquired disorders related to haematopoiesis. The transplantation of the umbilical cord blood is done very less and also there are few rumors about the collection as well as storage of the cord blood. Fruchtman said that the transplantation of the umbilical cord blood can be used for treating aplastic anemia. Bone marrow taken from a sibling donor whose HLA is matched, had a higher cure rate in the children having aplastic anaemia.

Umbilical cord tissue and blood is used as a main source of receiving different types of stem cells needed for allogeneic transplantation. However using of cord blood stem cells in children those who are suffering from aplastic anaemia is very rare. In a non- transplant setting only two cases has been reported in terms of hematopoietic transplantation. One is of a boy who is of 7 years and suffering from aplastic anaemia and a girl of 9 year suffering from hepatitis associated with aplastic anaemia. Another 3 cases of severe aplastic anaemia were reported from another clinical setting. All of these cases had successfully received a haematopoietic recovery by using bone marrow from siblings. This type of bone marrow engrafting can be achieved by using the stem cell transplantation that must be related to allogeneic cord blood as well as the bone marrow from the sibling whose HLA was matched.

From the above discussion it can be said that by using the stem cells that were taken from the cord blood can be used for treating severe aplastic anaemia. It will help in reducing the acute failure of liver by doing the stem cell transplantation.

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Cord blood has opened a new gateway in the field of alternative medicine.  Even though the concept of cord blood has been around since 1983, the first ever successful cord blood transplant was conducted on a six year old boy, who was suffering from Fanconi’s Anemia in 1983. Since then umbilical cord blood has been used in numerous therapies and transplants successfully.

Cord blood banking is a process of collecting stem cells in which umbilical cord blood is clamped and cut after a baby is born. These stem cells are adaptable cells that have the ability to regenerate and regrow. For this quality, these stem cells are used in treating more than 80 diseases and disorders now. There are two types of cord blood banking: Private and Public.

In private cord blood banking, you can store your baby’s store blood by investing a small amount of money. In exchange, you would retain the sole ownership of the stem cells, derived from the cord blood. This is the reason that more and more parents are opting for private cord blood banking, so they can use the stem cells any time in the future. On the contrary, you donate your cord blood in a public cord blood bank. Once donated, you cannot claim it in the future. Stem cells stored in public cord blood banks are used primarily in researchers and medical studies.

Once you save your baby’s cord blood, the stem cells can be used to treat any member of the close family circuit. For example, if you save your younger child’s cord blood, the stem cells can be transplanted to your elder child. They can also be used to treat any disease or disorder in you or your partner.

And the amazing part is, there is no need to match the cells before the transplant unlike bone marrow transplants. In bone marrow transplants, doctors need to go for graft vs. host disease (GVHD) matching, just to ensure safety and stability of the transplant. With cord blood stem cells, doctors can do away with GVHD matching. Since umbilical cord blood stem cells are inborn in nature, they are adaptive to any circumstances. Therefore the chances of rejection are also minimal to zero.

Now let’s take a look at the diseases and disorders that can be treated with cord blood stem cells.

Researchers have proved that cord blood stem cells can treat many types of cancer such as lymphoma, leukemia, and autoimmune. Apart from that these stem cells are extremely useful in treating the aftereffects of stroke, diabetes, and spinal cord injuries. Disorders like autism, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are also treated with cord blood stem cells. Patients treated with the stem cells have shown immense improvement in the first 6 months.

So, once you save your child’s umbilical cord blood with a private cord blood bank, you can not only safeguard your child’s future, but also protect your family. Even though there is a fee attached, but for a safer and worry-free future, it’s totally worth it.

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Stanford University School of Medicine researchers invented a new algorithm, Baxter Algorithm, to track adult stem cell development more accurately. The main idea was to overcome the difficulties in treating muscle related problems that eventually lead to aging.

According to the research, growing stem cells in the muscle, especially on the developed synthetic matrix, try to copy the elasticity of real muscle, thereby allowing them to retain their auto-renewing agents. Adult stem cells are already present in our body. They play a significant role in forming body tissues in muscles, blood and neurons. So far scientists struggled to create the stem cells in adequate quantity, needed for cell differentiation. Moreover, the stem cells lose some of their qualities immediately after they are kept in a culture dish. One of the qualities is self-renewal. It’s the ability to turn into another stem cell and at the same time the differentiating daughter cell.

This new technique would not only overcome the issue, but it would also help in revolutionizing the application of stem cells in different procedures.  Helen Blau, a researcher at the Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine explained, “Cells don’t normally exist in contact with a rigid cell culture dish. They sit on soft tissue. By mimicking this environment we can really influence their function and allow them to self-renew in ways we’ve never been able to achieve before.”

The researchers have developed a new culture system in order to create a more comfortable and softer environment for the stem cells to grow. They used a material, called hydrogel, made of a platform of polyethylene glycol polymers with water. Once they decreased the quantity of polymer molecules, it was turned into a more flexible and more elastic surface.

The researchers let the stem cells grow in the hydrogel for a week. After a week, they found that the softer cells had more cells compared to the less-elastic gels. The scientists had then used the new algorithm to track the cell development automatically. They have found that the cells are not dividing faster. Rather more cells remain alive in the culture dish.

Blau said, “This in itself is a huge advance. Until now it’s been pretty impossible to do these studies without spending half a year or more manually scoring pictures or movies of cells in culture. Now we can figure out exactly how the cells divide and move, who begets who. As a result, we can begin to study all types of variables,” she added, “Clearly the cells grown on the more-elastic surfaces have better survival and self-renewing properties than those grown on standard tissue culture dishes. We conducted our experiments with muscle stem cells, but I expect this will be true for other types of adult stem cells as well.”

Apart from the new algorithm, the researchers continue their work to find out how this advancement would help in stem cells therapies to treat muscle-related problems like muscular dystrophy. Blau said, “Researchers really had no way to grow these cells in the laboratory before. These findings may allow us one day to replenish the muscles of patients with muscular dystrophy and other muscle-wasting diseases with healthy stem cells.”

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Umbilical cord blood plays a potent role in treating life-threatening ailments like sickle cell anaemia, lymphoma, leukaemia and the like. Today, over 25,000 patients round the globe have had cord blood transplants since their parents had a long-term vision that made them donate the child’s umbilical cord blood to a prominent cord blood bank.

In fact, most ace doctors and health experts suggest that cord blood must be preserved until there’s need of it. Medical science presently believes that cord blood can be preserved for an indefinite time, so that it can be of use for several generations. Stem cell transplants having 40 years as the average age, the longer the cord tissue and cord blood is stored, the maximum will be its use. And this where the accreditation process ties in!

Who Manages the Cord Blood Banking Facilities?

Simply put, the cord blood banks get regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is essential for all cord blood banks to register their name with the FDA and welcome the recurrent inspections and adhere to the regulations listed by this body. Furthermore, there are several other cord blood banks, comprising of the Core 23 BioBank, that willingly place themselves for other additional regulation under reputed accrediting bodies such as FACT and AABB.

Recently, AABB accreditation is considered to be the standard or key to cord blood transplant globally, where about 70% of the AABB accredited cord blood banks are located outside of U.S. As an authorized and authentic accrediting organization for cellular therapies and transfusion medicine round the word, the AABB gives a patient ear to the stories from various members of blood banks, hospitals and other bodies. Listening, it is said is a vital aspect of AABB’s accreditation process and programme.

As a group of AABB assessor approach an organization, basic checklists aren’t what they depend on! On the other hand, their key responsibility is to enquire, observe, gather data, build connections and provide a direct feedback on the organization’s accomplishments in catering to AABB’s technical and quality management par. Other than the formal reviewing process, there’s a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing process that takes place along with other discussions related to the best practices. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the accreditation programme of AABB is accredited by International Society for Quality in Healthcare, a notable global organization that oversees and accredits accrediting bodies.

In fact, back in 2016 it a Dubai based AABB accredited cord blood bank successfully delivered a life-saving treatment of a 7-year-old boy, by providing stem cells that has been obtained from the umbilical cord blood that was saved 3 years before the birth of his sibling. This 7-year-old boy, who’s the elder brother, was diagnosed with major beta thalassemia, which is a blood disorder that might require daily blood transfusions and in a lifetime, can branch out into other various serious health hazards and ailments.

There are several reasons why AABB accreditation is considered the best practice for cord blood transplant. This accreditation programme makes use of a risk-solving approach that needs a meticulous evaluation by an AABB assessor to be on-site, examining the facility’s policies, processes and procedure to discover any possible marks of non-conformity. At the time of this accreditation process, the institutions gain from customized help rendered by a technical specialist at the AABB’s accreditation department. It is this specialist who in turn guides and assists the institutions and its team members on the accreditation process, giving answers to required queries and authenticating procedure followed and documents maintained. The verification process is strict, so that cord blood transplant taking place from the cord blood bank poses no health hazards and other discomforts.

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Do you know what the building blocks of our blood and immune system are? Stem cells. These stem cells have the potential to grow into different types of cells in order to repair cell damage in the associated tissues and organs. For this reason, stem cells are considered a major component in the modern regenerative medicine.

Stem cells are found in various parts of human body like bone marrow, blood, embryos, muscle, hair follicles, fetal tissue, baby teeth and fat. But not all stem cells can be used in clinical procedures. Umbilical cord blood is the richest source of stem cells that can be effectively used in therapeutic applications.

These stem cells are collected from the umbilical cord blood right after a baby is born. The cord blood is collected once the umbilical cord is clamped and cut. The blood is then processed to derive stem cells and preserved, so it remains intact for years. The process is completely safe and poses no harm to the mother and the new born.

After the cord blood stem cells are preserved successfully, the parents of the baby can use the stem cells, if the baby needs any transplant anytime in the future. Apart from that, if any of the family members needs a transplant, the family can easily claim the stored stem cell for the procedure.

Why Storing Cord Blood Should Be Considered?

Cord blood stem cells can treat more than 80 diseases and disorders. Once preserved, you can claim the stem cells for the treatment of any family members. Your elder child can also be treated with the stem cells of your younger child.

Moreover, stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood are immature. Like new born cells, they don’t know how to attack any foreign body. For this reason, using umbilical cord blood is always a safer option.

With umbilical cord blood, you don’t need to wait or look for a suitable matching donor. On the contrary, with bone marrow or peripheral blood, you need to wait for an unrelated matching donor. The reason being, cord blood stem cells are less likely to reject the transplant.

What Diseases and Disorders Can Be Treated With Umbilical Cord Blood?

Latest studies have shown that conditions like autism and cerebral palsy can be treated with cord blood stem cells. A 2017 study demonstrated that children with autism showed significant improvements in the first six months of the procedure. So, it’s proved that the symptoms of both these disorders can be treated with stem cells.

Studies showed that patients with cancer shows better results if they are treated with their own cord blood stem cells. Some study also show that umbilical cord blood stem cells work wonderfully on cancers that are not genetically derived.

Apart from cancer, there are other conditions like heart failure, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, stroke, diabetes that can be treated with umbilical cord blood. While the above-mentioned treatments are concerned, bone marrow is still the first choice for doctors and patients. The main reason is, in most of the cases umbilical cord blood is not preserved.

There have been hundreds of clinical trials and many have shown successful results. If you store your baby’s cord blood, you would be able to use them if situation demands.

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Stem cells have been the reason for so many successful clinical trials for decades. It has not only been proven effective for more than 80 diseases and disorders, but it has also been responsible for various miraculous stories. Lucy Hinchion has such an inspiring story. She is the youngest child in medical history, who has received her own umbilical cord blood to stop or delay the occurrence of Type 1 diabetes. And she was just 20 months old, when the procedure was conducted on her.

How Does Type 1 Diabetes Occur in Children?

The occurrence of Type 1 diabetes begins with autoantibodies. These are proteins that are made by the immune system of our body. If the protein is present in anyone blood, it suggests that the beta cells in the pancreas that help produce insulin, are affected. The entire process might lead to an autoimmune attack. Some of these autoantibodies can be traced during the blood months while some are found years before the diabetes occurs.

Umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells but at the same time it’s the most difficult to collect. It can only be collected after child birth from the umbilical cord of the new born. For this reason, parents need to contact a private cord blood bank to store the umbilical cord blood immediately after birth. Even a one day’s delay cannot be considered.

The procedure is entire safe both for the mother and the child. Once the cord blood is collected, it needs to go through a clinical process to isolate the stem cells from the immune cells. These stem cells are unique in nature. They have the potential to repair and replace damaged tissues and organs. And once stored, these stem cells can be utilized in any transplant of any family member.

Lucy’s mother, Sonya Hinchion also hoped that once they store Lucy’s umbilical cord blood, they would be able to safe Lucy’s elder sister, Ava’s life, who was suffering from Type 1 diabetes since four years of age. However, little did she know that Lucy would require those stem cells more than anyone else. After testing, Sonya found out that Lucy was positive for two antibodies and that posed her at high risk of developing the condition more than anyone. Sonya recalled, “After testing positive for two antibodies herself, Lucy became at high risk of developing the condition.”

Regarding the transplant, Sonya confirmed that it was a pretty simple and straightforward procedure. She said, “You’re putting all your eggs in one basket but without doing this trial and without putting yourself out there, we’re never going to learn. The other risk is, she develops diabetes and you’ll kick yourself for not trying.” Professor Maria Craig, the head of the CORD study, follows Lucy every 3 to 6 months and would keep up the follow up session for the next 3 years.

Over 100 Australian children, who have a history of Type 1 diabetes in their family, are being screened by the Cord Reinfusion in Diabetes (CORD) study currently. According to a report, “More than 100 Australian children with a family history of Type 1 diabetes are currently being screened in the Cord Reinfusion in Diabetes (CORD) study, conducted through the hospital’s Kids Research Institute and funded by cord blood bank Cell Care Australia.”

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Are you going to be a new parent? Have you thought about cord blood banking?

Cord blood banking is a process to store and preserve your newborn’s umbilical cord blood right after the birth. The cord blood, in turn, is processed to get stem cells that have the ability to save your baby and your family from a number of diseases and conditions. For this reason, cord blood banking is now very common among by new parents. Even doctors, these days, are recommending cord bloods banking to utilize the infant stem cells to their utmost potential. But when it comes to cord blood banking, there are a number of notions you will hear as an expectant parent. Let’s see what doctors have actually recommended and what you should know about the process:

Critical for life threatening diseases and conditions

Doctors recommend cord blood banking because it can save you and your family from a number of critical diseases including cancer. Apart from that it can be used to treat the symptoms of various conditions including cerebral palsy and autism. In all these cases, transplants are dependent on suitable and unrelated matching donor. But cord blood banking ensures a closer match, as it’s taken from a family member. So, once you preserve a cord blood unit, it can offer you a lifetime of security.
Dr. Tiffany Werbin-Silver, MD said, “One of the things I bring up at the 20 Week mark is cord blood banking. Cord blood is the blood flowing through the placenta to the baby, and once delivery occurs, you capture it at that moment, and you have it for a potential lifetime, not only for the baby who is born, who serves as its own perfect match, but for family members.”

Cord blood may have other uses you don’t know

There are a number of researches going on involving cord blood stem cells and even doctors don’t know about its full potential. A few years back, people did not know that stem cells had the ability to treat some of the symptoms of autism. Now several trails are under to find out effectiveness of stem cell therapy in such nervous system disorders.
Dr. Preete Bhanot, MD said, “Right now clinical trials are going on to use these cells for children with autism, with hearing loss. In five years, we may have so many more things that we can use these cells for. It is a great investment. You have to do it. I can’t stress that enough.”

What should the expectant parents know

Doctors recommend that new parents should be aware of the high potential of cord blood banking from the first day. They also should know about the diseases and conditions that stem cell therapy can treat. All the information helps them make an informed decision for their baby.

Dr. Shetal Mansuria, MD said, “What I explain to patients is that the uses are incredible. Treatments of things like lymphomas, leukemias. I know that it can save lives and I have seen it save a life, and I always tell patients that. In that case, it made the difference for this child. The uses are incredible. I think everybody should bank.”

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Doctors often recommend cord blood banking to expectant parents. And they have a number of reasons for doing so. First of all, if you have any family history of diseases, cord blood can offer you a safer future. Secondly, umbilical cord blood is the source of newborn stem cells, which are unique in many ways from the other type of stem cells. Apart from being able to differentiate into different types of cells, they have a lower risk of viral contamination and high proliferation ability. Moreover, once you store your child’s umbilical cord blood, the stem cells will be readily available to you in the future, whenever you may need them. There will be no dependency on finding a matched donor for the transplant.

If you are still thinking, here are some facts that will help you make an informed decision:

Cord blood can cure more than 80+ diseases and disorders:

Cord blood has opened a new getaway in personalized medicine. So far, cord blood stem cells have cured 80+ diseases including different types of cancer. And more than 35000 patients have recovered from their diseases with the help of cord blood stem cell transplant. Apart from various types of cancer, these stem cells can cure blood disorders, immune disorders and metabolic disorders.
Cord blood has the ability to regenerate and rebuild: It’s believed that cord blood stem cell therapy is a regenerative medicine, which is relatively new but has tremendous potential to repair damaged tissues and cells. For this reason, doctors and researchers consider this therapy as the next big thing in the future of medical science. Among all the sources of stem cells, umbilical cord blood is the richest source and has all the factors that are needed for a successful transplant.

Cord blood stem cells are ageless and are easily available once you store them:

Once these stem cells are preserved, processed and stored, they permanently retain their agelessness. Unlike other stem cells, umbilical cord blood stem cells are newborn, so they are less likely to attack the immune system of the patients. These stem cells remain in the condition for several years, so if you or any of your family members need them for any transplant, they will be instantly available. And you will not have to wait for an unrelated matching donor.

Several clinical trials are underway to find cure to new diseases:

Apart from those 80 diseases, mentioned earlier, several clinical studies are going on to see how impactful these stem cells are in treating diseases like hearing loss, heart conditions, Parkinson’s disease, autism, burn injuries, Alzheimer’s disease, lung problems, liver problems, bone injury, spinal cord injuries etc. Several trials have shown successful results already and it’s not a distant dream that scientists will be able to treat these diseases and disorders with umbilical stem cells.

So if you invest in storing your newborn’s umbilical cord blood now, it would not only save your child from future diseases, but also secure your family’s future and ensure your peace of mind. Decide wisely.

Sources:
https://www.babycenter.com/0_cord-blood-banking-what-it-is-why-consider-it_1362261.bc
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/features/banking-your-babys-cord-blood

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What is autism? What makes autistic people different from others? What causes autism? There are hundreds of questions in people’s mind when it comes to this condition. What is it actually?

Autism is a mental condition that remains present from the early childhood days and lasts for a lifetime. It’s characterized by minor to major difficulties in social interaction and framing language abstract concepts. And the critical part is, it’s incurable. However, a new study shows that stem cell therapy may show great improvement in children with autism.

It’s the story of Gracie Gregory, one of the 25 autistic children who participated in the study at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina involving stem cells to tone down the issues associated with autism. The idea behind the research was to find out if a transfusion of the self-umbilical cord blood with the rare stem cells can cure autism or at least reduce the severity.

Gracie was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. When Gracie’s mother first came to know about the research, she immediately enrolled her without knowing what to expect and what not to expect. Such was the difficulty; they were facing with their autistic child. There was a time when Gracie’s sister, Ryleigh was afraid of her because of her unmanageable behavior like hitting and kicking. But now that very Ryleigh thinks Gracie is “very sweet and kind.” And it only became possible after the stem cell therapy.

Gracie was on the mild to moderate scale of autism. During the trial, Gracie, then 5, started with the same symptoms like kicking, spitting, screaming and even hitting her therapists. It was almost impossible to make her sit at one place.

The results were beyond what Gracie’s parents were expecting! Her parents recollects how difficult their life was back then when managing her would take 75% of their daily life and now after the therapy she only consumes 10% of their daily time. When asked about rating her improvement on a scale of 1 to 10, her parents proudly rated 8/9.

She now attends regular school, plays with her sister, and enjoys life to the fullest, something that her parent would never have thought of.

According to her father, “We will say we don’t think it’s cured her. You still see some of the small idiosyncrasies that she does have. But again, I think it’s supercharged her learning curve. It’s pushed her to do things she normally wouldn’t do.” Her mother added, “She got better, and we’re just thankful for that — whether it be the stem cells or not. We’re just thankful for what changes have happened”.

Two thirds of the children, involved in the study showed great improvement. This is the results of the first phase of the study and a broader second level trail is on its way, which promises a long-term treatment for autistic children.

Skeptics are still saying that no matter what autism cannot be cured and there are quite a few unanswered questions that need to be addressed before going gaga over it. Even researchers at Duke acknowledge that the study is at a very early stage and still there is a long way to go. But for families like Gregorys, it’s a life-changing experience.

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Have you ever imagined how a unit of umbilical cord blood can treat your child’s hearing problem? As stated by Dr. James Baumgartner, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Florida Children’s Hospital, umbilical cord blood stem cells can be used to treat several critical conditions among children. With regards to treating acquired hearing loss in children, he had confirmed that acquired hearing loss can be treated with autologous umbilical cord blood stem cells.

Acquired hearing loss is a devastating condition in children, which does not remain present at the time of birth but acquired later. It’s believed that half of the children, suffering from the illness, received it from their genetics while half acquired it due to external factors like too much of antibiotic exposure, prematurity, and recurrent ear infections. And to make it worse, the severity of the condition is gradually progressive for many kids.

Dr. Baumgartner explained how a child learns to speak while hearing from others. He told that it takes 12 months of normal auditory input for a child to speak. During this period, a child’s brain develops an understanding of spoken language. If the child does not get exposed to auditory input for 18 months, the chances of speech is bleak. If he remains deprived of sound for over 3.2 years, he is probably never going to speak. That is the reason that acquired hearing loss is considered a critical condition in children.

Wondering what factor leads to acquired hearing loss? Well, there is an organ, called corti, which is located in the inner ear and is considered the microphone of our body. Our auditory nerve fibers are situated just beneath the hair cells in corti. And its main function is to pass signals to our brain. The loss of hair cells in the organ of corti leads to acquired hearing loss.

The most-practiced treatments to treat acquired hearing loss in kids are cochlear implants and hearing aids. However, both of these solutions only address the symptoms and don’t provide any cure. Now let’s come to how stem cells can treat acquired hearing loss. Researchers believe that umbilical stem cells can regenerate new hair cells in the organ of corti, which are responsible for hearing loss.

A trial, inspired by a Duke University research with 30 patients, suffering from acquired hearing loss, shows that cord blood transplants can be a treatment for sensorineural hearing loss due to mucopolysaccharidosis. The findings demonstrate that hearing loss can be easily measured. The unit is called ABR that is a count of functioning hair cells. If the transplant shows an improvement in ABR, it suggests the functioning hair cells are growing in number. In a previous trail, human umbilical cord blood stem cells were used to treat hearing loss in a mice model, which resulted in replacement of hair cells. Baumgartner added, “There was a pretty significant improvement. In particular if the stem cell transplant was done before 25 months of age.”

The current Phase 1 clinical trial is done with 10 kids between 6 weeks and 6 years, who have suffered from of hearing loss for less than 18 months. Baumgartner, even though not allowed to talk about the results until the final findings come in, said, “I can say the results from that Duke paper is something we are encouraged by.”

We will await the results and hope it will change many children’ lives.

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You might be thinking why Zika virus is a big deal for you, if you are an expectant mother?

Well, before that let’s just talk about what it is and how it spreads. Zika virus is mainly spread by mosquito bites and sexual transmission. The virus does not cause major harm to adults. But it greatly affects babies, if the mother contracts the virus during pregnancy.

So, coming back to the question, yes, Zika virus causes severe birth defects in newborn babies, born of Zika infected mothers. These babies develop microcephaly, a condition in which they are born with a significantly smaller brain, compared to other babies.

If all these have made you a bit worried and uncomfortable, here is some good news to make you feel a little safer. Cord blood banking! Yes, by securing a cord blood unit, you can be prepared for the future, no matter what.

However, here are some rules that pregnant parents should know about Zika infection and cord blood banking, if they are willing to donate their cord blood. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Cord Blood Association issued a guideline to protect cord blood units from potential Zika virus transmission on August 26, 2016. The guidelines are as mentioned below:

• The regulations are applicable to anyone who would collect and store blood components in private and public cord blood banks.
• All blood donations are recommended to be screened for the infection.
• If an expectant mother, willing to donate her baby’s cord blood unit, is found to be infected with Zika virus at any point of her pregnancy, her registration will be ineligible.
• She will be ineligible to donate her cord blood unit, if she stays in an active Zika cluster or travels to any such area during her pregnancy.
• If she had sex at any point of her pregnancy with a Zika infected male in the past six months, she will also be considered ineligible. The reason being, Zika virus can also be sexually transmitted.

Now you must be thinking, should you store your baby’s cord blood, if you are infected with Zika virus? The answer is yes. No matter if your baby is at risk of Zika virus or not, storing a cord blood unit will ensure a secure future. Moreover, all these guidelines and regulations stand for a fact that these stem cells are significantly rare. So, storing a cord blood unit and getting a bunch of life-saving stem cells is always a better option than having nothing in hand, when you need a transplant in the future. And just as mentioned earlier, Zika virus does not pose any major risk to male adults and non-pregnant women.

Cord blood banks take an extra screening process to check for Zika virus infection in order to eliminate any risk. After the screening process, if you are found to be at risk, your cord blood will still be collected and stored, so that any future illness of your family members can be treated. The processing and storing processes ensure that no cross contamination takes place.

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Stem cells have opened so many gateways to personalized medicine that no one could ever imagine a few years back. Not only the traditional transplants, with stem cells, medical practitioners are now able to treat many rare conditions. Thanks to the researchers and their novel techniques, involving stem cells.

This is a story of Javier Tan, a 9 year old boy, who was suffering from a rare genetic illness, Fanconi anaemia, which led his blood count drop to a significantly low levels. He required a stem-cell transplant; so that his body would be able create new blood cells

He received his first stem cell transplant when he was 7. The surgery was meant to save his life but call it irony of fate that it turned his life into a nightmare. Instead of healing, he contracted a bone infection. His condition was so severe that his doctors anticipated he would lose the limb.

In that scenario, the optimum option was to wait for another donor, which might have taken several months. Instead his doctors administrated another transplant and that too within weeks. When his doctors realized that they would require the donor to be only a 50% and not 100%, his father became the donor, who was earlier rejected.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching is important in both cord blood and bone marrow transplant. It’s a protein, which is found in cells, used to match a donor’s stem cells with that of the patient’s. However, this time Javier’s doctors went for a different method, called haploidentical transplant. In this process, the T-cells, the immune cells that are responsible for attacking foreign elements in the body were removed. So in Javier’s case, the T-cells could not attack the newly transplanted cells.

After seeing the immense improvement, Javier’s mother is very happy. Mrs Vivian Tan recalled the day when doctors told her that they might need to amputate his son’s leg. And now look at him. He is a healthy student of Primary 3, excelling in English and Chinese. His surgery was done in January and Javier was back in school in May. She said, “I am definitely relieved and thankful that he has his health back.”

Dr Rajat Bhattacharyya, the consultant at the department of paediatric sub-specialities at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) confirmed that the new transplant method is versatile enough to find anyone the suitable donor. However, the technique has been in existence since 2010. The National University Hospital (NUH) successfully conducted the procedure successfully on 38 children. The National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) has administrated 8 transplants on adults. KKH doctors have treated 4 kids with this technique since October 2014. 10 adult leukaemia patients have been treated with this method by Singapore General Hospital (SGH) since 2004.

The number of patients undergoing haploidentical transplant is gradually increasing. And why not! Without the procedure, the chances of finding the most suitable donor might take several months or year. The haploidentical transplant offers hope for patients, who suffer from rare conditions and are left with minimum hope to live a healthy life ahead.

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Cardiac failure continues to be a significant global health concern. According to the American Heart Association statistics, over one in three American adults have one or more types of cardiovascular disease resulting in an average of 1 death every 39 seconds. In addition to that, a large number of people worldwide are today surviving with the consequences of palliated congenital heart disease such as artificial valves and conduits and declining ventricular function.

Advancements in medical care and surgical procedures have in recent times significantly improved the lives of many who are suffering from coronary problems. However, these treatments rarely bear uniform results and are out of the reach of many patients in terms of affordability.

A research team headed by Professor Raimondo Ascione, Chair of Cardiac Surgery & Translational Research in the School of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol (UK) has established that human umbilical cord blood stem cells may be used in repairing heart muscle cells impaired owing to a coronary failure. Published in the Stem Cell Reviews & Reports and funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the investigative study discovered a set of rare stem cells called CD133+ extracted from the human umbilical cord blood that possessed the capability to regenerate into cardiac muscle cells by expanding to almost seven-fold, under clinical, in-vitro conditions.

Professor Ascione said, “We believe our study represents a significant advancement and overcomes the technical hurdle of deriving cardiac muscle-type cells from human cord blood.  The method we have found has the attributes of simplicity and consistency.  This will permit more robust manipulation of these cells towards better cell homing and cardiac repair in patients with myocardial infarction. Our research suggests that in the future stem cells derived from cord blood bank facilities might be used for repair after a heart attack.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said, “Regenerative medicine research in the lab, alongside studies of patients, is absolutely crucial.  Right now, the damage to the heart caused by a heart attack cannot be reversed.  Through research like this across the UK, we hope to bring our vision of mending broken hearts to reality. There has been interest for some time in the potential use of blood from the umbilical cord as a source of stem cells for therapy in a variety of diseases.  This study has shown for the first time that it’s possible to turn cord blood stem cells into cells that look like heart muscle, in the lab. The results are encouraging, but there are still lots of questions to answer before we’ll know whether these cells can be used successfully for heart repair in patients.”

The findings from this study have the potential to lay the foundation for forthcoming therapy in the wake of a stroke given that cells acquired from adults following a heart attack may be less operational due to ageing and risk factors.

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To start with, let us first understand what is ‘delayed cord clamping’.

According to the International Childbirth Education Association, “Delayed cord clamping is a birth practice where the umbilical cord is not clamped or cut until after pulsations have ceased, or until after the placenta is delivered.”

Now you may ask why this procedure is necessary and how does it impact your baby. At the time of birth, your baby’s body contains two-thirds of the blood whilst the placenta contains about one-third of the blood. Studies have revealed that a delay in the clamping of the umbilical cord can provide newborns approximately 30% more of the foetal-placental blood volume. Thus, delaying the cord clamping will give your baby a healthy blood volume.

Let Us Look At Some More Benefits That Delayed Cord Clamping Can Offer:

• The extra blood that delayed cord clamping provides to your baby can prevent anemia. Since breast milk does not provide sufficient amounts of iron which is important not only for preventing anemia but also for your baby’s brain development, the blood received from delayed clamping can deliver the extra iron content needed by your baby’s body.
• Delayed cord clamping allows your baby to incorporate an increased amount of stem cells into their body as the production of stem cells is highest at the time of birth. Stem cells are a core part of the body’s anatomy. They have the potential to repair and cure any type of internal injuries or illnesses.
• Some studies have shown that the extra time taken to detach the umbilical cord can give your baby a neurodevelopmental boost in later life.
• As mentioned before, delayed cord clamping increases the baby’s blood volume which in turn promotes a healthy neonatal cardiopulmonary transition.
• In the cases of babies who are born prematurely, delayed cord clamping can allow them to have stabilized blood pressure in the days succeeding the birth.

Although delayed cord clamping has several benefits, the ideal time for cord clamping is a topic of much debate. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists “Several systematic reviews have suggested that clamping the umbilical cord in all births should be delayed for at least 30–60 seconds, with the infant maintained at or below the level of the placenta because of the associated neonatal benefits, including increased blood volume, reduced need for blood transfusion, decreased incidence of intracranial hemorrhage in preterm infants, and lower frequency of iron deficiency anemia in term infants. Evidence exists to support delayed umbilical cord clamping in preterm infants, when feasible. The single most important clinical benefit for preterm infants is the possibility for a nearly 50% reduction in intraventricular hemorrhage. However, currently, the evidence is insufficient to confirm or refute the potential for benefits from delayed umbilical cord clamping in term infants, especially in settings with rich resources.”

Delayed cord clamping is a common practice amongst most doctors and has no effect on the process of cord blood collection since the cord blood is collected only after the cord has completely stopped pulsating. So if you are an expecting parent and have opted for cord blood banking, you can speak to Cordlife expert today!

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Ever wondered if there is a relationship between your umbilical cord and the belly button? Of course, there is! When you have your little one inside your womb, it needs a life-support system to survive the pregnancy gestation period. This support is comprised of the placenta, the umbilical cord and the amniotic sac filled with amniotic fluid.

“The baby’s life hangs by a cord”, as said by Ian Donald, aptly tells the importance of the umbilical cord.

The umbilical cord plays the essential role of attaching your baby to the placenta and keeps feeding your baby. During delivery, the placenta is expelled from your uterus through a process known as the after-birth. The umbilical cord, once your baby is delivered is clamped and cut. The remaining section of the cord heals and later becomes the baby’s belly button.

Nevertheless, most are aware of these common facts. But there are some really fun insights that you probably never thought about:

Umbilical Cords Vary in Length

The lengths of the umbilical cords of babies are variable. However, there is no concrete evidence to ascertain why the length varies at all. Within the full gestation period of 28 weeks, the cord may reach its full length which usually is between 45-60 centimeters in length. In a small percentage of pregnancies, the cord is less than 45 centimeters in length and investigative studies have shown that placenta retention and C-section is usually higher in such instances.

Tangles, Knots, and Loops

Babies in the womb are constantly moving around. A common game that they indulge in is playing ‘loop the loop’ with the cord. If the baby is healthy and the cord remains intact, it does not really pose any risk to the baby. Approximately 35% of the babies born have the umbilical cord wrapped around their necks and 1% of them have the cord in a true knot.

It Stops Working When Needed

In the womb, the umbilical cord remains in a temperature controlled environment. Post the baby’s birth, the cord is exposed to cooler air and the ‘Wharton’s Jelly’ within it starts to harden and shrink. Natural clamping occurs that squeezes and closes the blood vessels inside the cord. Depending on the temperature outside of the mother’s body, natural clamping takes approximately between 3 and 20 minutes.

The Umbilical Cord Tissue is Full of Potential

Most of us have heard about cord blood stem cells but the new research that has everyone’s attention is on umbilical cord tissue. Many ongoing clinical trials have brought significant evidence forward that the cord blood tissue also contains stem cells that possess the potential to multiply and transform into various cell types, like cartilage, bone, fat, etc. This essentially means that the cord tissue with more stem cells can potentially be used in treating more conditions and disorders.

As Nancy Reagan rightfully said, “Now science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research, which may provide our scientists with many answers that have for so long been beyond our grasp.” 

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I have always been an avid dog lover. Probably inherited it from my parents. For as long as I can remember, there has always been a dog in the family. So I was happy to learn that my husband too was extremely fond of the four-legged creatures and six months after our wedding we added a beautiful tan Labrador retriever pup to our family.

Rocky was a very energetic and playful pup. Jumping on us whenever we returned home was always his way of asking for affection and attention after we had been away from him for a while. However, he is very independent by nature. Doesn’t follow us around the house all the time. At the age of four, he is not only lively but also a very astute and an obedient pet.

It is actually his astuteness that has surprised my husband and me both. A few months ago we found out that I was pregnant. It was the happiest day of our lives. Since we wanted to wait till the first trimester was over to inform anyone, we made no major changes to our routines or lifestyle or to Rocky’s. I still took him out for his evening walks like I used to, fed him and played with him. But a month or so after we discovered I was pregnant, I noticed a change in Rocky’s behaviour. He stopped jumping on me after I came back home from work, even though he still did it to my husband. He started following me around the house all the time. Even if I was heading to the bathroom! His attitude towards me when we played was gentler. Before when we used to play there was always a bit of roughhousing involved which is almost non-existent now.

When I pointed it out to my husband, he said he had noticed it too but had dismissed it as a phase that Rocky was probably going through. It wasn’t until my first trimester was over that Rocky’s behaviour changed even more. Right around the time I was about 16 weeks pregnant and my baby bump had just started to show, Rocky started to lay with his head against my bump and was even more protective of me.

These changes in his behaviour led us to think whether Rocky was somehow aware of my pregnancy. There have been numerous studies that have shown that a dog’s superior sense of smell allows them to be able to detect changes in the human body. I had read in an article online that had conducted a study in which a Labrador retriever correctly detected colorectal cancer with 95 percent and 98 percent accuracy in two different sets of human samples. The study stated that a specific smell is linked to cancer, and that’s what the pup picked up on.’ Since pregnancy causes a change in the hormone and pheromone secretions, it is possible that it was how Rocky picked up on my pregnancy.

There is no scientific evidence to prove if dogs are truly aware of human pregnancy, but there have been many instances when a marked change has been perceived in a dog’s behaviour towards its pregnant owner. So even though there is no empirical proof that Rocky knows I am pregnant, I still believe that he does and I truly feel that when our little one is born, he will be as loving, caring and protective towards them as he has been to me.

Sources used:

• https://www.thedodo.com/does-my-dog-know-im-pregnant-1270361783.html

• http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/do-dogs-know-when-i-am-pregnant/

• http://www.babycenter.com/404_can-pets-sense-pregnancy_1379572.bc

[1] Does my dog know I’m pregnant? – Animal Planet (http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/do-dogs-know-when-i-am-pregnant/)

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“Congratulations! You’re having twins.” When Naren and Seema had been informed of this ecstatic news, they were over the moon. The couple had been trying to conceive for close to a year and finally knowing that they were about to be parents, of not just one but two babies were more than they could have asked for.

The expecting couple were very careful during the first trimester as they had been informed that chances for a miscarriage were highest during that time. They followed the doctor’s instructions to the‘t’.  After the first three months were over, they decided it was time to inform their friends and family of their good news.

At a party celebrating their news, Seema’s friend Aditi enquired of the couple regarding their plans for cord blood banking. However, neither Naren nor Seema seemed to have much information on what it was. Aditi told them that the process of storing a newborn baby’s umbilical cord blood from which stem cells can be extracted and may be used to treat a wide variety of critical diseases and disorders like leukaemia, thalassemia, etc is basically what cord blood banking was all about. Seema was intrigued with the idea; however, Naren believed “it’s just a fancy marketing ploy by healthcare companies to get money from worried expectant parents. My babies will be fine. We don’t need to store anything for them.”

Even though Naren wasn’t interested in cord blood banking, Seema started her research online. The more she read, the more she learned of the benefits that cord blood banking could provide to her children. And not just for her twins, but any other blood relatives including the children that she could have in the future.

Eventually, she decided to ask her friend as to what had convinced her to opt for cord blood banking. Aditi said, “There is a history of sickle cell anaemia in my family. There were high chances that my baby too would have it. I was worried sick thinking of what life would be like for her if that happened. My doctor then told me about stem cell therapy and how quite a few clinical trials have been conducted which revealed that stem cell therapy can be used to treat sickle cell anaemia. That’s when I decided to go for it.”

Seema realised that she too wanted to ensure the safety of her babies’ future. She had read that cerebral palsy is quite common among twins and she decided that she wanted to be prepared in case her children too were affected by this ailment. That night she sat Naren down and explained her concerns to him, finally convincing him to change his mind since their babies’ health and wellbeing were their utmost priority.

Today, Seema and Naren are proud parents of two healthy baby boys, whose cord blood had been stored with a private cord blood banking facility since their birth.

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Recently, close friends Jayesh and Simran delivered a second baby boy, Kiann. Like responsible parents, they believed in their child’s healthy future and went for private cord blood banking in spite of having preserved the umbilical cord for their firstborn a few years ago. In just 3 months’ time, their newborn was diagnosed with osteoporosis. This is possibly a condition where Kiann’s bone formation could be at risk and may lead to a fatality. The couple were optimistic because they were told that stem cell transplantation could actually save their newborn’s life.

In the rarest of cases, when Kiann’s stem cells were taken for testing, the parents found out that Kiann’s cord blood cells contained the same genetic deficiency that caused his disorder. Jayesh and Simran were distraught. But there was light at the end of the tunnel.  Precedence suggested that doctors could explore using donor cells from a close match. In order to treat a genetic disorder known as Fanconi’s anaemia, the first successful sibling-to-sibling cord-blood stem-cell transplant was performed in 1988.

There was hope yet for Kiann. Since Jayesh and Simran had opted to invest in storing their firstborn’s cord blood cells a few years ago, the doctors on testing that sample were able to get a reasonably compatible match. The doctors chose to go ahead with the stem cell transplantation and Kiann is now well on his way to recovery.

So the question that most parents spend a lot of time on is whether there is a need to store the cord blood and tissue for each individual child? In Jayesh and Simran’s case, the fact that they preserved the cord blood cells for both their children actually helped to save the life of their second born child.

According to the Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, “Two full siblings have a 25% chance of being a perfect match, a 50% chance of being a half match, and a 25% chance of not matching at all.” However, Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, Program Director of the division of Paediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Duke University Medical Center and one of the earliest to perform an unrelated cord-blood transplant in the U.S says, “One of the wonderful things about cord blood banking is that unlike bone marrow, you don’t always need a perfect match in order for it to work.”

Apart from the medical point of view of why one must consider storing the cord blood and tissue for both children, there is an additional take from a parenting perspective. By opting to bank the cord blood and tissue of a single child, most parents forget that it may lead to a regrettable situation where they may realize that they had made an unequal key medical decision.

Storing the stem cells of each child individually will allow you and your children access to a greater number of stem cells through which their future disorders and diseases can be cured. Dr. Jordan Perlow, MD, a maternal-foetal specialist in Phoenix, post attending medical conferences and having examined and analyzed findings about advances in stem-cell treatments now urges his patients to privately cord blood bank if they can meet the expense of it because he’s confident that it might save their child’s life or the life of another family member.

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In order to understand how stem cells are useful to us, we first need to understand what stem cells are. Stem Cells start in the embryo as immature biological cells, then become specialized to create bone, muscle, skin, the heart, the brain, and over 250 other types of specialized cells. This is why they are of such value to scientists doing both basic types of research in the lab and medical research in the clinic. They have the potential to regenerate tissue and cells that have been lost because of disease or injury.

Stem cell therapy has been used to cure a number of health conditions such as heart diseases, neurodegenerative ailments, and diabetes, with bone-marrow transplant being the most commonly used for stem cell therapy. There are many ways in which stem cell therapy can be conducted, however, stem cells derived from the umbilical cord blood are the safest to use for treatment. Moreover, stem cells from young individuals possess superior naivety and plasticity than stem cells from adults.

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most commonly found abnormality at birth, where the structure and function of the heart are not normal. In 2014, this congenital anomaly affected more than 1% of live born infants and accounted for more than 2.5 million affected children per year worldwide. CHD now occurs in approximately 7–8 out of 1000 live births, a slight improvement. Recent estimations reveal that up to 80% of newborns and infants with CHD are likely to reach adulthood, which can result in a high likelihood of complications later in life.

The cause of congenital heart disease is usually a combination of genetic and environmental factors. While some congenital heart diseases can be treated with medicine alone, others need to be treated with one or more heart surgeries.

In 2006, research at the Boston Children’s Hospital revealed that the heart has its own source of stem cells. These heart stem cells can form two major types of heart cells: myocardial cells (the muscles that, together, contract to make the heart beat) and smooth muscle cells (the lining of the heart’s blood vessels). This finding by Stuart Orkin, MD, and Sean Wu, MD, PhD, gave researchers a better insight into how the heart forms, and also gave a fillip to the concept of treating diseased or defective heart tissue with heart stem cells.

In January 2013, a study led by Bernhard Kuhn at the Boston Children’s Hospital found for the first time that young humans (infants, children and adolescents) are capable of generating new heart muscle cells. These findings gave rise to the possibility that scientists could stimulate the production of new cells to repair injured hearts.

A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital reported in PNAS Early Edition (July 2013 issue) that they were able to create blood vessels in laboratory mice using human stem cells. The authors explained that using stem cells to repair or regenerate blood vessels could eventually help treat human patients with cardiovascular and vascular diseases.

Stem cell-based strategies to cure heart failure in adults has been investigated with promising results; however, stem cell therapy strategies for the paediatric population with heart failure are in its infancy. Further clinical trial studies will be needed to understand the cell biology in order to optimise their regenerative potential.

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Over the years scientific development in neonatal medical care has been revolutionary. One of the best advances in this domain has been in the form of cord blood and umbilical cord tissue banking. Between the baby and the mother, the umbilical cord acts as the lifeline as it comprises of many blood vessels, through which the umbilical cord blood pulses. The umbilical cord tissue, on the other hand, enables the blood vessels to weather the stress and the presence of the cord protects and supports them from bending.

The umbilical cord tissue comes with a high concentration of mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs. A research article states that “MSCs derived from the umbilical cord tissue, termed UCX, were investigated for their immunomodulatory properties and compared to bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs), the gold-standard in immunotherapy.”[1]

According to available proprietary technology, UCX is being sequestered from the umbilical cord tissue; the methodology has proven to be quite strong, reproducible and will work adequately for stem cell banking. [2] It has been seen to produce a greater number of cells along with approximately 100% success rate with limited bacterial impurities.

In the present scenario, stem cells found in the cord blood are being used in the treatment of a number of blood-related diseases. However, there is a major hindrance as the volume of blood collected from the umbilical cord is low and can pose a drawback in terms of transplants. Studies and researches are currently underway to understand possible methods to increase the efficiency of cord blood transplants. Some investigations have delved into “ex vivo expansion of the hematopoietic stem cells before transplant, intensifying the homing of hematopoietic stem cells to the patient’s bone marrow, direct injections into the patient’s femoral bone, and transplants with multiple cord blood units” as stated in Banking Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord Tissue For Future Regenerative Medicine Applications. [3] A more direct technique is to make use of another stem cell population – MSCs found in the umbilical cord tissue – for co-transplantation with a cord blood unit, could well be the solution.

With technology to extract MSCs from cord tissue, the first step is to mince the tissue. This is further supported by an enzymatic breakdown process to “melt” away the cord tissue that in turn releases the native MSCs. An alternative way to preserve MSCs is to process the tissue and extract the cells thus securing them in a “treatment ready” form.

The clinical tests conducted on these cells have revealed affinity towards treating auto-immune diseases (diabetes, Crohn’s disease, graft-vs-host-disease), neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s) and cardiovascular diseases (acute myocardial infractions, ischemia).[4]

Deciding to store the umbilical cord tissue will give you the opportunity to take advantage of the therapeutic potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. Umbilical cord tissue stored in cord blood banks represents an additional source of stem cells that may have both immediate and future applications. However, the choice to store your child’s umbilical cord tissue is only available to you once, therefore, think carefully while making your decision.

Sources used:

• http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/111/1/430.short?sso-checked=true
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23755729
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23998751
• https://stemcellres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/scrt394
• http://www.assembly.wales/NAfW%20Documents/hhs74_-_anthony_nolan.pdf%20-%2024012011/hhs74_-_anthony_nolan-English.pdf
• http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/2015/583984/#B30
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23895058

[1] What Makes Umbilical Cord Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Superior Immunomodulators When Compared to Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells? – R. N. Bárcia,1 J. M. Santos,1 M. Filipe,1 M. Teixeira,1 J. P. Martins,1 J. Almeida,1 A. Água-Doce,2 S. C. P. Almeida,2 A. Varela,2 S. Pohl,3 K. E. J. Dittmar,3 S. Calado,4 S. I. Simões,4 M. M. Gaspar,4 M. E. M. Cruz,4 W. Lindenmaier,3 L. Graça,2 H. Cruz,1 and P. E. Cruz1

[2] R. I. Ganchas Soares, M. C. Baptista Coelho, J. M. Silva Santos, et al., Isolation Method of Precursor Cells from Human Umbilical Cord, edited by INPI, Medinfar, ECBio, Lisbon, Portugal, 2008.

[3] Banking Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord Tissue For Future Regenerative Medicine Applications – Rouzbeh R. Taghizadeh, PhD, & Kyle J. Cetrulo

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Miracles happen. How many times have we heard this? But have you actually ever seen a miracle happen. This is the story of one man’s fight against blindness which eventually gave hope to millions of people.

It was on a family road trip to New Hampshire when the 54-year-old Doug Oliver was first made aware of how advanced his macular degeneration had become when he failed to see two pedestrians in a crosswalk and almost ran them down. The incident resulted in Doug receiving a $500 fine from a police officer who had witnessed the near accident and was also made to give up his driver’s license.

Doug had been previously diagnosed almost 20 years ago, with macular degeneration. However, back then his doctors had predicted that his vision would last until the age of 60. But following the accident, when his eyesight was reviewed, it revealed that he was almost blind. The tests showed he had 20/2000 vision in the left eye and 20/400 in the right. This new found disability severely affected his career as an IT specialist and social policy consultant. He had no choice but to depend on his monthly disability check to make ends meet.

His doctor advised Doug that the only way to find a cure for his ailment was to participate in clinical trials. After vociferously searching for such trials, Doug was finally able to reach out to a surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Weiss who was conducting an experiment on treating macular degeneration through stem cell banking. After flying out to Florida, Doug met with the doctors who were participating in the study. They extracted a bone marrow sample from his hip bone and with the help of an FDA-approved centrifuge, isolated the stem cells which were then injected into his eyes. Within 48 hours his vision improved. The vision in the left eye was 20/40 and in the right eye was 20/30.

Following the success of the treatment, Doug said, “I could see the boats and the little wake lines that you see from 30,000 feet. I acted like a 6-year-old and loved it”.

In order to garner government funding for such procedures, Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander invited Doug to Washington in June 2016. Doug was asked to speak to Mr. Alexander’s colleagues regarding his success story, in the hope that it would convince them to support the passing of the 21st Century Cures Act which legislates the funding of high risk, high reward clinical trials. He believes that the passing of this Act can revolutionize the healthcare industry.

So as the story goes… miracles do happen, or at least in Doug Oliver’s case, a modern ‘medical miracle’ did happen.

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As the science of stem cells took off in the 1970s when doctors realized that the stem cells found in the blood inside an umbilical cord could offer a much more secure substitute to bone marrow transplants that may find its way in the utilization of treating conditions such as leukaemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell anemia. This is so since cord blood is power packed with multipotent, self-renewing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are the forerunners to blood cells.

The process of extracting this cord blood immediately after birth and storing it in state-of-art laboratories in India and overseas for future use is now a convenient and affordable reality for many Indians, thanks to health companies like Cordlife India. In fact, Cordlife is the only private Cord Blood Bank in India to offer automated cord blood processing with Sepax2, a versatile patented Swiss technology. This advanced technology enables easy handling and safety of processing and aids in highly efficient and consistent cell recoveries.

Once the umbilical cord has been clamped from the newborn, the cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord vein attached to the placenta. Cord Blood extraction is not only a painless process for both mother and baby unlike bone marrow extraction, but there is a 60% higher chance of matching cord blood unit in the family vis-a-vis bone marrow. Cord Blood cells are mature, flexible and have more usage advantages than stem cells extracted from the bone marrow or umbilical blood.

After cord blood is extracted, Stem Cell Banks preserve the stem cells via Cryopreservation. Under various such methods of Cryopreservation, any damage to the stem cells caused by any enzymatic or chemical activities is prevented by cooling to very low temperatures, without further damage being triggered by the formation of ice during freezing.

Stored Cord Blood can now be available between days or weeks of processing for treatment. There is a low risk of complications when cord blood is applied for stem cell transplants and therapy since they have the ability to regenerate in the desired way.

Globally, an estimated 35,000 transplants have taken place where cord blood stem have been utilized to treat over eighty life-threatening ailments, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, bone marrow failures, genetic disorders, blood disorders and immune disorders. Several medical professionals are also researching cord blood as a potential cure for conditions that cannot be remedied presently. Umbilical Cord Blood banking is no more an option, but a necessity to secure a healthy future for the entire family.

For more details about – Why Banking Umbilical Cord Blood should be on your “To Do” List? – visit https://www.cordlifeindia.com

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The beginning of my Dad journey…

It was just past noon and whilst my lovely wife was in the bathroom, I was furiously pacing outside the door. The bathroom door opened and there she was with the biggest smile on her face and tears rolling down her rose-blushed cheeks. She was ecstatic. She waved the test and I saw that it was positive. My first thought was of pure joy and relief. I remember telling her, “can you really believe it?”, “Are you happy?”, “Does it really say that you are pregnant?” We stood in the doorway for god knows how long, hugging and crying before finally calming down.

The “moment you find out” is quite unique and it was finally sinking in. It reminds me of that singular moment in life when you hold your breath and then heave those pleasurable gasps after a chest-achingly long time. A combination of being euphoric on finding out as well as the sweet relief of the long-endured fight of trying to, engulfed us all around.

We’d been trying to get pregnant for quite some time and our gynaecologist had told us that it wasn’t going to be an easy path for us. This challenging personal experience for us was a mirror of what was happening with many of our friends and some relatives too. The entire experience of winning the battle against childlessness seemed just imbalanced. The wrongness is amplified by the sense that the act of getting pregnant should be uncomplicated and the most enjoyable thing in the world to do.

I’ve seen the tightly-managed disappointment and setback turn out to be merely the opening act for a massive emotional ocean of antagonism, hopelessness, grief, resentment, embarrassment and remorse at being envious or not interested in others’ swift stork deliveries.

But all that is in the past.

Now that it has actually happened to us, it is such an unreal feeling; something that I’ve never lived through before and doubt I ever will again. Marriage is colossal, buying a house is massive, but making a human… is mammoth. I could not wait to scream it out of the rooftop.

I started visualising what a fantastic dad I was going to be; not that I’ve had any practice before. I would need to change a million things about myself, my lifestyle, to be able to be that great dad; but I am prepared to make all those changes. No more reckless drinking and takeout every night, no more sleeping until 8:30am on workdays.

Right now, I am just excited beyond my wildest dreams and maybe a little frightened too. But today, I only want to share this joy and pride with my beautiful wife. I have no doubt that she is feeling the same thrill. After all, we did this together!

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Like most parents, when you decided to have kids, nuances in finance might have been the last thing on your mind. The role of parent to your little bundle of joy was your primary focus and now that the little ones are growing up fast, it is a good idea to start making some crucial decisions on financial investments, insurance covers and the much talked about cord blood banking.

Ways in Which You can Secure Your Child’s Future

There are three primary areas that you should seek to secure for your child – Life, Health and Future. It is important to start planning each of these areas at an early stage. Here are a few recommendations that might prove useful for you:

1. Life: A sound financial plan for their education, daily care and other activities.
2. Health: Medical Insurance cover and the latest Umbilical cord blood banking.
3. Future: Getting Life Insurance to cope with any future uncertainties.

Financial Planning

1. Investing in mutual funds is a great way to get the dice rolling.
2. SIP and fixed deposits are a smart choice when there are funding problems. They are less risky and yield good returns.
3. Opening a savings account in your child’s name and contributing a stipulated amount every month will prove immensely useful in the long run.

Umbilical Cord Blood Banking and Health

1. This was a fairly alien concept till a couple of years ago in India, but is becoming rapidly popular.
2. Collection and private storage of cord blood when the child is born is built around the possibility of its use either by the same child at a later date, or a sibling or another family member.
3. Diseases such as lymphomas, leukemia, sickle-cell anaemia, aplastic anaemia, immune deficiency disorders in your family history doubles the chances of your offspring being affected. Cord blood could prove to be a life saver in such cases.

Insurance Cover

1. Investing in medical insurance can save you extra stress during a health emergency.
2. Getting life cover has the dual benefits in terms of both savings and security.
3. A big advantage of child life cover is that the premium is relatively low because of the young age of the insured.

No matter where you start, the universal mantra is to start early. This will help you save more without having less money for everyday expenses.

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