What is cord blood?

Cord blood (or placental blood) The umbilical cord blood, also called placental blood, is interesting from a medical point of view because it contains hematopoietic stem cells. These stem cells are capable of producing all blood cells: red blood cells and white blood cells (granulocytes, lymphocytes, platelets). We use this cord blood for transplant to patients with diseases of the blood (leukemia), diseases of the lymph nodes (lymphoma) and hemoglobin disorders. All of these diseases can also be treated by bone marrow transplantation. The cord blood collected immediately after delivery is kept in banks by freezing. The donation of cord blood is a voluntary process, free and altruistic. Scientists are investigating the possibility that stem cells in cord blood may be able to replace cells of other tissues such as nerve or heart cells. Whether cord blood can be used to treat other kinds of diseases will be learned from this research.

Stem cells
Stem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide (through mitosis) and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells. In mammals, there are two major types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells, which are found in various tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, the reconstitution of adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all the specialized cells (called pluripotent cells), but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin or intestinal tissues . There are three available sources of autologous adult stem cells in humans: Bone marrow, which requires extraction by harvesting, that is drilled into the bone (usually the femoral or iliac crest) Adipose tissue (fat cells), which requires extraction by liposuction, and

Blood, which requires extraction by apheresis in which blood is drawn from the donor (equivalent to a blood donation) passed through a machine that extracts the stem cells and returns other portions of donor blood. Stem cells can be taken from the umbilical cord immediately after birth. Of all types of stem cells, autologous harvesting involves the least risk. By definition, autologous cells are obtained from ones own body, as can accumulate his own blood for surgery. Highly plastic adult stem cells are routinely used in medical therapies, such as bone marrow. Stem cells can now be artificially grown and transformed (differentiated) into specialized cell types with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture. Embryonic stem cell lines and autologous embryonic stem cells generated through therapeutic cloning have also been proposed as promising candidates for future therapies

Umbilical cord blood

At birth a babys umbilical cord contains a small amount of blood. This blood contains a large amount of stem cells. You can choose to keep the umbilical cord blood. It can then be used in the future to treat children or family members with deadly diseases such as leukemia or lymphoma. Often, this blood can be used to treat a child when no donor is available for a bone marrow transplant. In short, these stem cells could save the life of another person. Until recently, this blood has the potential to save lives was discarded as biomedical waste.

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