Canadian cord blood banks.

Finding Canadian cord blood banks.

If you are looking for somewhere to store your newborn baby's cord blood for the future use of your baby or other family members then you need to find a local cord blood bank that will help, but don't fear there are a large number of Canadian cord blood banks that can help you. This is true whether you are looking to privately store cord blood or you are looking to donate the blood from your baby's umbilical cord. There are a number of private services as well as blood banks that are set up to deal specifically with donated cord blood and most areas of Canada are serviced by one cord blood bank or another.

Ongoing stem cell research.

Stem cell research is ongoing and researchers hope to uncover new possibilities stemming from the use of cord blood and, in particular, the stem cells they retrieve from this potentially valuable source of highly primitive stem cells. Primitive stem cells are preferred to adult stem cells for a number of reasons. Primarily this reason is that adult stem cells have already begun to perform tasks and therefore show much less potential to be introduced into the body and perform any task apart from the one they already do. This means that adult stem cells taken from bone marrow can essentially only be used as specialist blood cells. Also, adult stem cells are not as efficient at reproducing.

One scientist has a revolutionary new technique that he believes will move the research on in leaps and bounds. Alfred Sapse placenta stem cells work has been based around a skin stem cells acupuncture model that he claims he worked on in the 1950s and involves injecting stem cells just under the skin of patients who require treatment.

Primitive stem cells.

Primitive stem cells, like those found in umbilical cord blood, can grow into any form of cell with the right surgical programming. Also, primitive stem cells reproduce and create further stem cells. There is one other reason that primitive stem cells are preferred and that is because they are less likely to be rejected by the patient's own immune system. As with all forms of transfusion the tissue being introduced must be a match when compared to the patient who is receiving the transfusion. If the two are not matched then a transfusion should not go ahead. In the case of adult stem cells the body is much more likely to reject them than it would the primitive stem cells found within umbilical cord blood.

The cost of storing cord blood.

Storing cord blood does cost money and you should expect to pay anything from $500 to $1500 initially as well as between $50 and $100 per annum for the storage of the cord blood. These costs are necessary, however, if you feel you can not afford to pay this price then you should consider donating cord blood in order that further research can continue and transfusions can be carried out on patients who are in need of stem cells to survive. Research is indicating that there are a great many more uses for stem cells than we currently know and early tests on congenital heart failure and other deadly diseases have shown positive results. Regardless of why you want to store or donate cord blood you will need a list of Canadian cord blood banks.

More on choosing accredited cord blood storage centers