Private, Public or Hybrid?

There is indeed and increasing number of parents who are considering the benefits of having their child’s cord blood stored in private cord blood banks. The decision of these parents to do so arises from the belief that cord blood contains raw biological material, which can be used to cure future diseases and disorders.

But according to the experts of the Vienna-based Congress of the European Hematology Association, the so-called benefits of privately storing cord blood remain to be controversial. Professor Willem E. Fibbe from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands during the 12th Congress of the European Hematology Association stated that the number of people who have privately stored cord blood outweighs the number of public cord blood donations made.

Knowing how successful cord blood transplantation is especially in treating leukemia and lymphoma victims, experts are concerned that the supply of cord blood in public blood banks can no longer meet the demand.

Basically, public cord blood depositories operate on a so-called solidarity principle where the receiver do not shoulder any costs since the cord blood was donated. Meanwhile, private cord blood banking requires the parents to pay a considerable amount in order to ensure the proper safekeeping of their child’s cord blood.

The debate whether investing in private cord blood banks instead of donating cord blood rages on as scientists explore all the potentials of cord blood treatment. As an alternative, experts are suggesting the development of private-public hybrid cord blood banks that can both cater to public donors and high-risk families.

This hybrid solution was already tested in Spain where cord blood is required to be donated if needed for non-family transplantation.

Report: Delay Cutting Umbilical Cord

According to a Canadian research, delaying the cutting of the umbilical cord for two minutes immediately after birth will mean better blood count as well as higher iron levels for your children. For parents, who have decided to store their child’s cord blood in private banks or even those considering public donation, this suggestion will certainly concern them.

Private cord blood banking has become very popular recently especially when treating diseases like leukemia and lymphoma via stem cell transplantation was successful. The research, which urges doctors to delay the clamping, may mean less amount of the collected cord blood.

In the United States, about 600,000 parents have stored their baby’s umbilical cord blood bank in private blood banks while at least 300,000 donated the cord blood and made available for allogeneic transplantation.

Although the research requires more study, many heath experts believe that there are actually no real implications so far. Even the authors of the report has stated that they will do further testing.

There are no strict guidelines when it comes to cutting the umbilical cord. In most nations, cutting the umbilical cord is done immediately after birth in order to facilitate faster the bonding of the child and mother as well as avoid respiratory problems. On the other hand, some countries delay cutting the cord in order to minimize risks of anemia.

The Canadian study involved previous researches and trials on early umbilical cord clamping during the birth of full-term babies, which were analyzed. The meta-analysis showed that late clamping lowered hemorrhage risks and decreased requirement for blood transfusion. Although some of the babies showed symptoms of polycythemia, the condition was only temporary.

The full report can be obtained from the Journal of the American Medical Association, March 21 issue.

Senate Bill for Easing Restrictions on Stem Cell Research Funding Vetoed

Last May 2007, US President George Bush vetoed a Senate Bill that will ease restrictions on stem cell research funding, citing moral issues.

Stem cells have been known to be the key to treating diseases such as lymphoma, leukemia and Parkinson disease. As pre-cursor cells, stem cells have the ability to grow into other type of cells. They are usually harvested from adults but unfortunately, many studies on stem cells use days-old embryos as source.

The recent success of stem cell therapy can probably be attributed to the intensive research programs. Researchers and scientists are hoping that stem cell therapy can also become a treatment option for Alzheimer and Diabetes patients.

In 2006, a Senate Bill was vetoed by President Bush for the same reason – the use of embryos as source can be considered immoral. In the UK, researches on hybrid embryos were initially banned but recently withdrawn because they only created stem cells via injection of human DNA into empty animal cells.

In the light of the growing popularity of cord blood banking, stem cell research supporters are looking at umbilical cord blood as alternative sources. Today, many parents have chosen to store their baby’s umbilical cord blood in private blood banks while others have simply decided to donate them in public cord blood banks.

The problem with private cord blood banks is that their services come at a considerable price and not everyone can afford them. On the other hand, public blood banks do not have the financial resources to collect, process and store umbilical cord blood donations.

As a possible solution, the US Senate can look into funding for public cord blood storage and even encouraging the creation of public-private hybrid cord blood banks, in order to address this controversial debate regarding stem cell research.