Pros:
- you could save your child's life or your own life or the life of a sibling by banking cord blood because the stem cells in the blood can be used for a stem cell transplant to treat certain diseases;
- in the future, there may be more uses for cord blood stem cells than what we use them for today, as scientists are working on figuring out new ways to use them
Cons:
- the likelihood that you'll actually ever need to use the cord blood stem cells is super low, especially considering that there may be other, more viable alternative treatments to the disease in question;
- the cord blood stem cells can only be used to treat certain blood and immune system diseases and this kind of process is best reserved for people who know that their family is prone to certain genetic disorders or that already has a child with a treatable disorder that can benefit from the new sibling's cord blood donation;
- even if you do eventually need to use the cord blood, the sample could have been stored improperly (apparently there is not a "standard" way to store the samples as of yet) or there might not be enough stem cells in the sample for there to be a successful stem cell transplant (this is especially true if the patient has become an adult by the time the cord blood is needed, because adults would require more stem cells for a successful transplant);
- the private cord blood banking companies are often criticized for misleading clients/advertisement viewers about the process and potential benefits of cord blood banking;
- some critics say that cord blood might be important to the baby and taking the amount of cord blood needed for the banking process (instead of letting the baby get all of the blood) could be detrimental to the newborn
Anyone have any opinions on this?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am pregnant and was recently approached by the representative of a Core Blood Bank about the possibility of saving the cord blood as future insurance for my child. I liked the idea but the cost of perseverance is quite high. I have also come to know that menstrual blood also has stem cells that can be used for transplant. Do you have any idea about that?
I know that the science for storage and use of banked cord blood is lagging behind what banks would tell you. I also am very happy that the diseases for which cord blood can be used are extremely treatable. For example, 90% of kids who get leukemia can be cured these days (without cord blood).
ReplyDeleteCynthia-
ReplyDeleteit IS expensive, isnt it?!? if i knew that it would be worthwhile, of course i would do it for my daughter. but the more i read, the less sure i am that it's a reasonable investment.
i'd not heard that about the menstrual blood. interesting. i'm going to go look that up...
Jen-
hmmm. more evidence to support my new feeling of "maybe i should just save those thousands of dollars for braces rather than banking cord blood."
I don't really have a medical opinion, I just know that one of my coworker's grandkid's illness was treated with cord blood. I forget what the illness was. :/ I stink. :O
ReplyDelete