Cord blood can save a lifeSORIYA DANIELSThe women's weekly parenting class at our synagogue wasn't so lighthearted today. Posted on the walls near the Sephardic sanctuary, was the desperate plea of a mother for the life of her 31-year-old daughter, Tani, just diagnosed last week with "a serious medical condition" that could only be treated by a match from a bone marrow donor.The flyer displayed photos of a beautiful young woman with four small children, including one baby. At the bottom of the flyer was a phone number to call for more information. This number put me in touch with Tani's mother, who revealed that to their surprise and utmost dismay, none of Tani's many sisters were a match. I learned there are 10 compatibility factors that determine whether the transplant with be rejected by the host. I remembered the photos with the children pasted along the edges of the flyer. Four children, four potential ideal matches. Tani's mother regretfully told me that her daughter never banked any of her own children's blood. "No one talked about cord blood when Tani had her children. Who knew?" she said sadly. Researchers are finding a rich supply of stem cells in umbilical cord blood for use in treatment of a number of diseases. The stem cells found in cord blood are as viable and flexible as those found in embryos, can be easily collected without any ethical drawbacks and stored indefinitely, and are easier to match to patients than those from bone marrow. They can be used to treat a host of serious illnesses after they are thawed, even decades later, and used to reconstitute the blood or regulate the immune system. Since 1998, more than 3,000 cord blood stem cell transplants have been successfully performed worldwide in treatment of more than 40 life-threatening diseases. Essentially, every parent faces the same three choices at birth with regard to what they should do with their baby's cord blood: public donation, banking or throwing it away. The latter choice squanders a one-time opportunity to save something that could be incredibly valuable and potentially life saving for parents, their babies and their relatives. The adage "Ignorance is bliss" used to be applicable here. It was for me, nearly three years ago, when I decided to throw away my only child's cord blood. It was too expensive, I reasoned. Little did I know that I, like Tani, might need it one day. Families who choose to bank their child's cord blood stem cells privately usually do so because they feel it offers them an extra precaution, as it is a perfect match for the child from whom they are collected. The last option facing new parents is public donation, which can possibly help a family in need. An initial $10 million appropriation to establish a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Network was recently approved by theSenate. The groundbreaking legislation will provide the resources necessary to collect an inventory of 150,000 cord blood stem cell units over five years. Prior to the legislation, families wanting to donate cord blood to a public bank did not have access to a facility that accepted donations. "We have been highly supportive of the legislation and the ability to increase our national supply of life-saving cord blood samples" said Stephen Grant, Cord Blood Registry co-founder and vice president of communications. Stem cell rich cord blood also treats some Jewish genetic disorders, such as Gaucher's disease, and is currently in trials for treatment of type I diabetes and breast cancer. Viacord, one of the cord blood banks, offers their services free of charge to any expectant family with a biological relative with an established diagnosis of a disease that is currently treatable with cord blood. I won't lie to you: It's expensive. First-year costs range from $950-$1,650, but that generally includes collection, blood processing, initial freezing, and licensing fees. Some companies offer discounts for long-term storage or early registration, and most offer payment options. The fees after the first year, for continued storage in liquid nitrogen, approximate $150 per year. Had Tani heard about cord blood banking only two years ago, when her youngest child was born, those flyers might not have been posted today. Visit www.marrow.org. Soriya Daniels is a free-lance writer from Miami Beach, Fla. Contributions can be made out to Tani's Bone Marrow Fund, Washington Mutual Bank, 940 Ives Dairy Road, North Miami Beach, FL 33179. |
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