Cord blood usage in infant medicine

Cord blood is the name given to the human blood of the placenta, together with the umbilical cord, which is resulted after giving birth to a child. The recent medical innovations and discoveries include saving and using this cord blood for potential further medical operations, as its stern cells are of high importance and appropriation in various medical cases.

After collecting the cord blood in maximum 15 minutes after the baby is born, processing it is the following faze in order to be viable for further medical operations. The processing of cord blood includes specific steps, such as RBC depletion, shipping and the actual freezing. The freezing or, scientifically said, the cryopreservation is applied within 1 day after the actual collection and can be successfully preserved for indefinite years.

There are various pediatric solutions that include using the cord blood. The most major ones are the children cancers and blood diseases, including infant leukemia (juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia) or immune system disorders. All these are usually treated with chemotherapy, which, besides its benefic effects, also negatively affects some good cells. A significant cord blood usage in infant medicine is the marrow transplant. This procedure has the result of providing new and healthy blood cells, which leads to a safer immune system of the child. Besides these, there are some rare genetic diseases that require cord blood stem cells. Among these rare disorders, there is the fatal Krabbe Disease, which is characterized by causing severe degeneration of mental and motor skills of the child.

If receiving the stem cells from the umbilical cord before the actual manifestation of the symptoms, the brain development can be successfully preserved. Hurler Syndrome, Adrenoleukodystrophy, Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, Tay-Sachs disease, Sandhoff disease are also other rare and severe conditions that affect the infants and can be successfully treated if using the cord blood stems. Hurler’s Syndrome is a genetic and progressive disorder that results from the body’s incapacity to make a significant enzyme. The disease damages many organs and most importantly, it affects the heart and causes death in the early teens. The Sandoff disorder has a result the progressive deterioration of the central nervous system and, like the Krabble disease, it is fatal before the age of 3.

Cord blood is not used as a temporary solution in serious medical cases of infants. Cord blood actually provides a new and healthy blood structure that increases the safety of the immune system and prevents further imbalances.

Author: Michael Rad