First NZ Child With Brain Injury Successfully Treated With Her Own Cord Blood
A young Auckland girl has become the first New Zealander to undergo a ground-breaking umbilical cord blood treatment for a birth-related brain injury.
Four-year-old Maia Friedlander was treated with her own cord blood at Duke University, North Carolina, USA inAugust 2008 and her parents say the results over the past 12 weeks have been extraordinary.
Maia’s father, Daniel Friedlander said that before the treatment Maia had difficulty running, chewing and communicating – despite having up to 6 hours of therapy a day for the past three years.
Since regenerative medicine focuses on repairing the body and stem cells are the cells that every cell in the body stem from it only makes sense that doctors would use stem cells to repair damaged tissues, organs and systems. Today, new treatment using cord blood is focusing on regenerative medicine. Once unimagined, stem cells are paving the way for possible treatments to diseases that up until now have only been able to be treated or controlled not fully cured or reversed.
Regenerative medicine offers a cure vs. treatment to many debilitating diseases. In the last five years many stored cord blood banks have released a large number of units to use for patients with conditions such as Type 1 diabetes, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, leukemia, sickle cell anemia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, optic nerve hypoplasia(the leading cause of blindness in children) just to name a few.
If seeing is believing, Elmwood Park residents Heather Pelletier and her 8-year-old daughter, Hayley, qualify as stem cells' most fervent converts. The stem cell treatments Hayley had are controversial. But the success she experienced is hard to discount.
Hayley had been legally blind since birth, afflicted with optic nerve hypoplasia, or ONH, a leading cause of blindness in children. Her optic nerves, which transmit visual signals from her eyes to her brain, were underdeveloped. She could see only light with her left eye, not much more with her right -- objects at 20 feet that a child with normal vision can see at 2,200 feet.
Study Provides Needed Reference for Consumer Education on Stem Cell Odds of Use
BROOKEVILLE, Md.-New data published in the March issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation indicate the probability of an individual in the U.S. needing a stem cell transplant, using either one’s own stem cells or those from a donor, is much higher than previously stated. This new research says that as many as 1 in 200 people will receive a stem cell transplant during their lifetime, based on current therapeutic use of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells. These outcomes stand in stark contrast to previous estimates that suggest a much lower probability.
The study calculated the lifetime probability (age 0 – 70) that an individual in the U.S. will undergo a stem cell transplant, reporting that: 1 in 435 people will receive their own stem cells for treatment; 1 in 400 persons will receive someone else’s stem cells; and the combined total number of stem cell transplants will be 1 in 217 persons.
Saving your child’s cord blood with a private bank is an extremely important decision for every expectant family. Especially if your family’s medical history includes a disease treatable by stem cell transplantation. However, it is also a good idea for families without a history of diseases that are currently being treated at this time. The Cord Blood cells that are saved are the newborn's actual cells and will guarantee a match for your child if one of these diseases occur in the future. In addition, research on umbilical cord blood stem cells are proving that these cells have the capability if placed in the right environment to develop into stem cells from all systems of the human body. So if you agree that these stem cells are your child’s best chance at treating one of these medical conditions, it is highly recommended that you do so with a private bank.
Making the decision to bank your baby's cord blood is the first important decision you will make for your baby. It is also one of the first important financial investments you will make for your baby.
When making the decision to privately bank your baby’s cord blood for you and your family vs. donating your baby’s cord blood to a public bank there are many things to consider. Regardless of your choice we believe that cord blood should not be discarded, just thrown away. Below we have broken down some important topics for you to consider.
Private Cord Blood Banking
Public Cord Blood Donation
Your Rights To Your Baby’s Cord Blood
Guarantees your baby’s stem cell storage for you and your family.
Increases the national supply of stem cells. You have no rights to those stem cells.
Cost For Collection
You pay an initial processing fee The National average for private banking is $2000. There is a yearly storage fee. The average fee for storage is $125.
No cost. There is no fee for the collection nor is there a fee paid for the donation.
Collection Sites
Collection can occur at any hospital.
Limited. Public banks do not collect at every hospital.
Access For Retrieval
Ensured. You control the use of your baby’s stem cells.
Unknown. Public banks work on a first come, first served basis. If you needed your cells chances are they will have already been used by someone else. Approximately 40% of the donated cord blood meets the criteria to process and store; the other donated samples are discarded or donated to research. So, there is a high likelihood that a specific sample will not be in the public bank’s inventory.
Cost To Retrieve Stem Cells
None.
Costs can range for $15,000 to $25,000 per unit.
Availability Of Stem Cells
Outcomes are twice as successful when using your own stem cells.
A search and match process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months; ultimately, a match may not be found.
Transplant Outcomes
Outcomes are twice as successful when using your own stem cells.
Outcomes are lower using an unrelated sample that a genetically related cord blood stem cells. Complications are significantly increased using unrelated stem cells.
In 1988 the first cord blood stem cells were used in transplants. Today, cord bloods transplants have been used in over 10,000 transplants worldwide. Stem Cell research is rapidly growing and holds so much promise for future potential applications. In October 2009 the NIH reports that there are over 2,700 clinical trials ongoing in the US.
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