Cord Blood Developments

It’s not the future. It’s now. So says Dr. James Baumgartner, pediatric neurosurgeon at Florida Children’s Hospital, with regard to the use of cord blood stem cells to treat a number of prevalent, devastating conditions in children. We look at the study by Dr. Baumgartner that shows cord blood can restore a significant level of hearing in children suffering from acquired hearing loss by increasing the number of functioning hair cells in the organ of corti.

One of our client service representatives started a grass roots charity drive to raise money and/or get new toys donated to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s hospital not far from our Miami office. As a cord blood banking company, we are by our nature often confronted with the reality of a sick child. Seventy-nine families have successfully used their baby’s stem cells stored at Cryo-Cell for transplants. As a company, we become part of these families’ stories. 

Sounds like a strange question, but in cases where people, thankfully, blessedly, live to a ripe old age, free of diseases, why do they ever die? How come they can’t just keep on living forever? And could death be postponed further if someone’s parents had followed their OBGYN’s advice and done cord blood banking for them when they were born? Death may not the most upbeat topic to blog about, but recent studies reveal some optimistic results about the aging process and the potential role umbilical cord blood stem cells may play in mitigating the impact of aging.

Many cord blood banks churn out eye-catching marketing pieces and still others try to attract the expecting parent by offering low cord blood banking costs. At Cryo-Cell International, cord blood banking and cord tissue banking is personal. 

Cells derived from the fetus can persist in maternal tissues for decades after a child is born. In some instances, these cells act cooperatively to benefit maternal health and in other instances, they can lead to adverse effects on the mother: either or both protecting from or increasing susceptibility to a range of afflictions including cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. One thing is clear, they continue to make their presence known long after delivery.

I often go through a similar thought process before signing up to exhibit at expecting parents expos. At first, the deterrents rear their ugly head. But in the end, I overcome all of my own objections for one simple reason: I feel compelled to educate expecting parents on the importance of cord blood banking. 

There has been a lot of buzz around—and a number of athletes who have undergone—stem cell treatments for athletic injuries.  With umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord tissue being a readily available source of stem cells, and an alternative to bone marrow stem cells, the question arises: could cord blood stem cells stored today in cord blood banks, one day be used to treat sports related injuries?

When our son, Patrick, was two years old, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Therapists frequently tell me that he is the hardest worker they have had. He is very determined. As his parents, we are determined to try everything possible to help both of our boys succeed. When Patrick was three, we discovered that we were expecting another baby. My mother, who is a midwife, asked me if I was going to bank this child’s cord blood. She had attended a continuing education seminar that had talked about the benefits of cord blood banking and how they are doing a lot of research on using stem cells to treat Cerebral Palsy. We decided as a family to bank our 3^rd child’s umbilical cord blood stem cells with Cryo-Cell International in the hope that they may eventually be able to be used for Patrick.

How long can cord blood be stored is toward the top of our list of frequently asked cord blood questions. As parents want to make sure they are investing in a product with a long shelf life, it is an understandable question to have. As cord blood banking is 27 years young, data on the use of cord blood in transfusions are limited, but from what research has shown, the length of cryo-preservation has no affect on the quality and viability of cord blood collections.

In this month of March Madness, when people around the country are crazed with their office pools and cheering on their college alma maters, I met up with a very special, five-person team who’ve been playing together their whole lives. 

The team is from Ecuador and its players range in age from nine to just shy of a month old. It’s a very progressive group, allowing 3 girls (Isabella, Stella and Amanda) and 2 boys (Juan Diego and Joaquin Andres) to play together at every position. These are the Baquerizo children, and they are part of team Cryo-Cell International.