Cord Blood – Importance, Benefits, Storage and Diseases it can cure

Cord Blood – Importance, Benefits, Storage and Diseases it can cure – There is need to have knowledge of cord blood, its importance, processes of storage and how to use it effectively in the cure of so many diseases. It is well known that most parents do not bother about cord blood after child birth but it is something very essential and beneficial to the life of the child, siblings, relations, friends and the society at large.

What is Cord Blood?

Cord blood (umbilical cord blood) is blood that remains in the placenta and in the attached umbilical cord after childbirth. Cord blood is composed of all the elements found in whole blood – red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, platelets.

Why do you need to collect Cord Blood?

Compared to whole blood some differences in the blood composition exist, for example, cord blood contains higher numbers of natural killer cells, lower absolute number of T-cells and a higher proportion of immature T-cells. Cord blood is collected because it contains stem cells, which can be used to treat hematopoietic and genetic disorders.

What is Stem Cell?

A stem cell is a cell with the unique ability to develop into specialized cell types in the body. In the future they may be used to replace cells and tissues that have been damaged or lost due to disease.

What are hematopoietic and genetic disorders?

Haematopoiesis or hematopoiesis is the formation of blood cellular components. All cellular blood components are derived from haematopoietic stem cells. In a healthy adult person, approximately 1011–1012 new blood cells are produced daily in order to maintain steady state levels in the peripheral circulation.

A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality.

Detailed Explanation of Cord Blood and its Storage

• Baby is born with the umbilical cord attached, the cord will be clamped and cut so that baby can be cleaned and taken care of.
• Cord blood will be drawn from the clamped cord into a special collection bag by the doctor or the midwife.
• Once the collection bag is ready to pick up, the father of the baby can take it to cord blood specialist
• The cord blood specialist will perform all the necessary examination and analysis on the blood. Once completed, red blood cells that are not needed for preservation is separated
• The cord blood stem cells is stored in either bag
• The cord blood stem cells will be kept in liquid nitrogen storage tank (-190⁰C) inside a secured facility