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Cord Blood Banks

By: Ray Lam

With the discovery of the stem cells in the umbilical cord, the task of fighting against malignant diseases has been made somewhat easier. The Lifesaving potential found in cord blood has shown to reduce usual risks associated with transplant treatments. Being the most primitive cells in a body, these stem calls can regenerate different types of cells. In the past two decades, scientists have made major breakthroughs with every passing year. Today, a well-preserved unit of cord blood can save a person from more than 75 diseases! After finding a host of healing potentials in umbilical cord blood cells, scientists are still in the process and hopeful about discovery of more latent potential in cord blood cells. From professionals to parents of babies, the enthusiasm is widespread and evident - whether for donation or for cord blood preservation for future use.

The cord blood bank is certified to process hematopoietic stem cells collected from umbilical cords. To process these cells, the banks are required to have the infrastructure including laboratory and administrative processes that are inspected, approved and comply with the regulations of AABB. The cord blood bank should have its own setup for laboratory and storage facility. Those using a third party's setup do not take responsibility of the critical procedures of umbilical cord blood cell processing. Moreover, you will not know when the contract between your bank and its third party will terminate.

Nevertheless, private blood banks do have their own share of obstacles. The cost of cord blood storage in private banks is quite high and is likely to discourage many. The biggest attraction towards private cord blood banks is the guarantee that the cord blood a patient preserves, will not be used by anyone else, unless the donor himself permits. Compared to the lower chances of cord blood cells transplants in a child, storage prices charged by these banks are relatively quite high.

The capability of these enterprises, credentials of these private banks play as strong determining factors in the U.S. Banks accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks are entertained mostly by the hospitals. After cord blood collection, the samples are sent to these blood banks for processing and cyropreservation. Donors must check out the records related to the number of cases in which blood banks have used their stored samples in transplants. Recent estimation concludes that there is only 1% chance for autologous use of cord blood cells.

Ideally, you should choose a cord blood bank in your city itself. The lesser your cord blood unit has to travel before preservation, the better. Always enquire about the transportation procedure before you register yourself. Remember, the usual courier carriers like FedEx and DHL do not guarantee proper temperature control during the transportation. However, do not hesitate in opting for a cord blood bank which has better records and facilities in another city, if transportation is not a problem.

These are another kind of banks, which were set up in the early 2000?s. The cord blood samples stored in such banks are not used for transplants, but ONLY for research. The banks take your samples for free and use them in their own research or sell them to other researchers.

Article Source: http://www.articlecamp.com

Learn more about cord blood collection and get a free report on "Stem Cell Treatment - Uncovered" by visiting http://cord blood collectionadvice.info, a popular website that provides free cord blood stem cells advice.

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