Cord Blood-Fiction Or Fact

There are several diseases that respond very successfully to cord blood transplants. Who discovered stem cells there are typically unique factors involved in each case and thus each case should be treated as unique. Survival rates vary depending upon these factors.

Within the new discoveries of cord blood research there is mostly optimism and hope. With such studies being performed on a daily basis in that we know the minimum dose of stem cells from cord blood needed for the incorporation of an entirely new immune system there will continue to be strides taken in the positive directions of truth in cord blood knowledge.

Typically cord blood transplants are performed on small children who typically use one unit of cord blood. But there have been cases where adults have received up to seven cord blood units at once. One case was of six mismatched blood types and one that matched. Eventually the blood of a person that received a cord blood transplant will become all one type. And it will not always be the same type in which the recipient began life.

The oldest person that physicians regard as a potential recipient to receive a cord blood transplant is seventy years of age. There are many factors involved in the assessment of the donation of cord blood by banking facilities. And there are also many factors to consider as to who will be a recipient. The mid-range age that most physicians go by in ruling our recipient is forty-nine years of age.

Expanding the amount of stem cells in cord blood makes it possible to transplant into larger patients but has not been effective in increasing the speed of engraftment. A question asked most frequently is whether or not cord blood can be expanded 'in vitro' so that adult humans might benefit more from the practice of cord blood transplants. The fact of the matter is there have been adults who have survived a transplant of expanded cells.

Most fictitious comments about cord blood are typically cord blood bank and collection advertisements blowing facts about survival rates out of proportion with the real facts. Always remember that not all diesaeses just go away because cord blood transplants can now be performed. However there is a new hope to light the darkness of some diseases and their severity. Cord blood will continue for many, many years to come to be a hopeful part of the medical field.