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Have You Thought About Donating Your
Infant’s Cord Blood?
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If you do not wish to store your baby's umbilical cord blood for private use, you may wish to consider donating it for public use. If you have made yourself aware of the pros and cons of cord blood storage, the procedures for applying to have your infant’s cord blood stored, then you place yourself in the best position to make a decision about donating this valuable resource.
Cord blood has been used for over 3,000 patients needing stem-plant replacement therapy. Stem cells from cord blood provide an alternative for the thousands of patients who have waited and searched for but have not been successful in finding a matching bone marrow donor.
An example of what happens is that with certain blood cancers like leukemia, the only widely known available therapy is for the person to have full body radiation to destroy the cancer cells. However, this radiation also destroys the blood-producing stem cells in the body. These were formerly replaced exclusively by a bone marrow transplant, but now cord blood cell transplants offer a new alternative.
Since the need for an exact tissue matching procedure is less severe, some patients who could not find matching bone marrow donors can find cord blood donors. Six proteins are usually required to be a match. The HLA antigens are tested for in the potential stem cell transplant, whether from bone marrow, or umbilical cord blood.
Most transplants of infant cord blood match the donor in only 4 or 5 of these proteins, yet the transplant still is not rejected by the recipient’s body. An especially acute problem for members of minority communities in the United States is that there is a smaller pool of possible donors than the majority white race.
The minority communities in need of this resource pool being widened include Afro-Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders and American Indians.
The national figures in the US have shown an especially difficult time for patients of Afro-American descent in finding good bone marrow donors. The matches involve not only blood type but HLA antigens, which are proteins found in most cells of the body. This can become especially more complicated in individuals of mixed racial ancestry.
Over 6,000 patients have used donated cord blood worldwide. Even though this treatment is still considered an experimental treatment its use is growing in the United States, Europe and Japan. Donating umbilical cord blood is free, but not all hospitals and communities are ready to participate in this program. Over 50,000 infants have had their cord blood donated and available for public use.
Over the last couple of years, the number of parents who either have had their infants cord blood saved privately, or who have donated it for public use has grown rapidly. You can check if the hospital where your infant is to be born provides this lifesaving service. Even if you donate the blood from your infant and it is not used in a patient, the blood can be used in furthering medical research to help find better ways to use this therapy.
If you do not wish to store your baby's umbilical cord blood for private use, you may wish to consider donating it for public use. If you have made yourself aware of the pros and cons of cord blood storage, the procedures for applying to have your infant’s cord blood stored, then you place yourself in the best position to make a decision about donating this valuable resource.
Cord blood has been used for over 3,000 patients needing stem-plant replacement therapy. Stem cells from cord blood provide an alternative for the thousands of patients who have waited and searched for but have not been successful in finding a matching bone marrow donor.
An example of what happens is that with certain blood cancers like leukemia, the only widely known available therapy is for the person to have full body radiation to destroy the cancer cells. However, this radiation also destroys the blood-producing stem cells in the body. These were formerly replaced exclusively by a bone marrow transplant, but now cord blood cell transplants offer a new alternative.
Since the need for an exact tissue matching procedure is less severe, some patients who could not find matching bone marrow donors can find cord blood donors. Six proteins are usually required to be a match. The HLA antigens are tested for in the potential stem cell transplant, whether from bone marrow, or umbilical cord blood.
Most transplants of infant cord blood match the donor in only 4 or 5 of these proteins, yet the transplant still is not rejected by the recipient’s body. An especially acute problem for members of minority communities in the United States is that there is a smaller pool of possible donors than the majority white race.
The minority communities in need of this resource pool being widened include Afro-Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders and American Indians.
The national figures in the US have shown an especially difficult time for patients of Afro-American descent in finding good bone marrow donors. The matches involve not only blood type but HLA antigens, which are proteins found in most cells of the body. This can become especially more complicated in individuals of mixed racial ancestry.
Over 6,000 patients have used donated cord blood worldwide. Even though this treatment is still considered an experimental treatment its use is growing in the United States, Europe and Japan. Donating umbilical cord blood is free, but not all hospitals and communities are ready to participate in this program. Over 50,000 infants have had their cord blood donated and available for public use.
Over the last couple of years, the number of parents who either have had their infants cord blood saved privately, or who have donated it for public use has grown rapidly. You can check if the hospital where your infant is to be born provides this lifesaving service. Even if you donate the blood from your infant and it is not used in a patient, the blood can be used in furthering medical research to help find better ways to use this therapy.