Storing blood cord blood for
use with MS patients

What are stem cells?

The umbilical cord, or blood cord, contains the purest stem cells that available to doctors and patients and can be used to treat many debilitating and life threatening diseases; while research into blood cord stem cells & M.S is still in it's infancy there are obvious signs that the blood cord may hold the key to effective treatment. However, the solution is not just around the corner and until the underlying problem can be resolved and the central nervous system prevented from creating further damage to the new stem cells and the tissues they create, stem cell treatment is unlikely to cure the disease.

Stem cells are a quite incredible part of the human body that evolve into tissue, organs and other cells making them a very useful compound when it comes to treating certain diseases. Indeed, stem cell replacement is not a new phenomenon; such practice can be carried out for more than 40 years with bone marrow transplants being one of the most effective treatments for people who suffer from cancer, leukemia and anemia amongst other diseases. When we are young stem cells are usually able to reproduce and, therefore, create new and healthy stem cells to take over when existing ones become damaged.

Adult stem cells what are they?

Until recently it was believed that stem cells did not exist in adults, however, it has been discovered that stem cells do not disappear in childhood or early after birth. The most important of the adult stem cells, to MS sufferers, are oligodendrocytes. These are the cells that create myelin that can repair the body effectively and quickly. Researchers have inevitably started to investigate this link between cord stem cells and ms sufferers in a bid to find a cure for the disease. There are difficulties in the process of extracting adult stem cells, however, because the cells that have been found so far have all been present in the brain.

Neural stem cells basics.

Neural stem cells are, at best, very difficult to remove. They are present in the brain and they are amidst millions of other cells leaving serious doubt over the question of how are neural stem cells extracted safely and effectively. Other ways of extracting stem cells must be found before any further effective research can be done. It is believed that bone marrow and skin transplant may hold the key to this success but at present the most effective method is through the early extraction of stem cells. Stem cells taken from the blood cord provide a pure form of the required cells and the extraction is a simple process.

Bear in mind that the stem cells must closely be matched to the patient's physiology in order to ensure that the transfusion will be a success and knowing the origin of umbilical cord blood is another advantage of this process. There are obviously a number of adult stem cells disadvantages but with time and more research it does look likely that these obstacles will be overcome and an effective method for removing them will be found.

What is therapeutic cloning?

Therapeutic cloning is one possibility, although one that is met by a degree of bitterness from a number of camps. Essentially it entails the donation of a human egg and all of the DNA from the mother is then removed from this egg. The patient donates a healthy single cell and the DNA from this cell is implanted into the egg. By inserting DNA into stem cells in this manner the cell is encouraged to split and the resulting stem cells perfectly match the DNA of the patient and not of the parents.

Why store blood from your baby's umbilical cord?

While the use of stem cell transplants is not a new process, stem cell research has become very popular and many more institutes and professionals are turning their attention to the extraction of these wonder cells from a baby's blood cord. The list of diseases and problems that can be cured or rectified is growing on a regular basis and the list doesn't look set to slow down. By using a cord blood bank to store your child's umbilical cord blood you could potentially be saving their life.

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