Cord Blood Cells
Learn about Cord Blood Banking ©2014
Cord Blood Cells

Cord blood cells are a tremendously valuable piece in the treatment of blood, immune or genetic disease. Cord blood cells, also known as stem cells, are the building block of all cells. They are not specialized yet and can become any other type of cell. When used in transplantations, cord blood cells are much more effective at engraftment than bone marrow transplants.

​​The cord blood cell transfusion is much less invasive and painful as well. Take for example a patient’s sibling is a match for transfusion. A bone marrow transplant involves transfusing the cells out of the bone marrow of the healthy person and into the patient getting the treatment to replace the unhealthy cancer cells or dead marrow that has been destroyed by chemo. This process is painful for the healthy donor and the patient, and usually involves children, and is a very tough decision to make as a family. Using cord blood cells from banked umbilical cord blood is virtually painless.

​​ The donor was not poked or prodded. The cord blood cells were simply collected and processed at the time of birth from the umbilical cord and placenta before being thrown away. This child could be the same hero for their sibling as if they had given a bone marrow transplant, but do not have to become a patient themselves.

​​The success rate of engraftment of cord blood cell transfusions is much higher than other treatments. Cord blood cells are also being used for many other treatments. Researchers have found uses for cord blood cells in soft tissue, spinal and brain injuries. There are a host of groundbreaking studies involving cord blood cell treatments. The act of donating these cord blood cells should be done at the very least. However banking the cord blood cells in a private facility can give a family a leg up in the event that a child is diagnosed with a life threatening blood or bone cancer, among other unfortunate disease or illness that could be treated using cord blood cells. New uses for cord blood cells are being discovered each year, and cord blood banking could be a relatively inexpensive insurance policy in the event of a tragic circumstance.