Soccer Moms.  Helicopter Moms.  Mama Grizzlies . . . the list goes on.  Moms carry many titles and have many roles, and as the saying goes, “Mom knows best.”

That’s what makes one of the newest pregnancy books somewhat unique.  Titled Mommy MD Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, it includes unique tips that doctors who are also mothers used during their own pregnancies. Here’s what Dr. Dianna Kim, an ob-gyn and mother of three, shared about why she decided to bank her children’s cord blood:

My husband and I decided to bank each of our children’s cord blood.  We thought we would do that just in case something happened.  Researchers are finding more and more applications for stem cells, so I think that in the future cord blood may be even more useful…

The Mommy MD Guide to Pregnancy and Birth is just one of a growing number of pregnancy guides that addresses cord blood stem cells. Other great books that provide perspective on this topic for expectant parents include The Hot Mom to Be Handbook by Jessica Denay, YOU: Having a Baby by “America’s Doctor” Dr. Mehmet Oz,  and Dad’s Pregnant Too by journalist Harlan Cohen.

Swimming pools are a well-recognized symbol of summertime fun.  But they also can be a life-threatening hazard for children.

Drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death of children under 14 and the leading cause of death for children under four [1, 2].  Nearly as tragic are the statistics for children who survive a near drowning.  At least one third of near-drowning survivors sustain moderate to severe neurologic damage [3].

According to an interview of Tonya Morris on Keeping It Together, that was the case for her daughter, a little girl named Sparrow Morris, who fell into the family’s backyard pool trying to fill a watering can when she was just shy of two-years-old. Tonya estimates that Sparrow was down for about 45 minutes after being pulled from the water until rescue workers were able to revive her after administering CPR.  Because of severe oxygen deprivation which resulted in damaged tissue in her brain, doctors did not expect her to live, let alone recover near age-appropriate mental and physical capabilities.

Her mother reports that today Sparrow is a thriving four-year-old who does everything from jumping on the trampoline to attending mainstream preschool.  Her journey to recovery has involved physical therapy and tutoring as well as an experimental treatment one year after her near drowning:  an infusion of her own cord blood stem cells.

According to Tonya, “We saw the value in cord blood and realized someday our child might be able to use it when the research is there.”  Tonya never expected to use it so soon in Sparrow’s life.

Sparrow, whose cord blood was banked with CBR, was able to participate in a program evaluating the use of cord blood to help heal the brain after an injury, such as one caused by lack of oxygen.  The study is in the initial stages, and it is not yet known whether cord blood stem cells can be used to effectively treat brain injury.

Tonya shares her full story during a segment of Keeping it Together, an on-line radio show hosted by safety expert Alison Rhodes, also known as The Safety Mom.  As part of the same segment, Alison interviews Dr. Marra Francis, an ob-gyn from Texas who believes in educating every mother about the significance of cord blood stem cells and the options for preserving them.  

“I tell every one of my new patients that [babies do] not know if they are wearing a ‘onesie’ from Wal-Mart or if they’re in a designer one.  They’ll throw up on both of them just the same,” said Dr. Francis.  “I also tell them that the two things  they will purchase that could potentially save their babies lives are a good car seat and cord blood banking.”

 The Safety Mom’s interview with Tonya Morris and Dr. Marra Francis can be heard here.

References:
[1] National SAFE KIDS Campaign. Drowning fact sheet. 2004, National SAFE KIDS Campaign: Washington, DC.
[2] National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS). 2005. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars. Accessed on August 31, 2005.
[3] http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/908677-overview  Author: Michael J Verive, MD, Director, Pediatric Intensive Care, Department of Pediatric Critical Care, Mount Sinai Hospital; Program Director, Pediatric Intensive Care, Hope Children's Hospital

A study published this month in the journal Spine, found that stem cells from a human newborn umbilical cord can improve neurologic function of rats after an acute spinal cord injury.

The rats treated in the study with cord blood stem cells experienced a significantly improved recovery of locomotor function (the ability to move from place to place) over a six week period compared to untreated rats.  In addition, six weeks after treatment, the injured area was noticeably smaller in the treated animals than in the untreated animals.

Most spinal cord injuries are compression injuries, in which the damaged nerve cells in the spinal cord are still intact, but have lost a coating called myelin that helps them transmit signals from the brain to the rest of the body, leaving them nonfunctional.  Lost myelin does not regularly grow back on its own following an injury, and so the goal of this study was to determine if cord blood stem cells could help initiate its regeneration in rats with compression injuries to the spinal cord. 

Research to date has shown increasing evidence that stem cells from cord blood have the ability to help with repairing and regenerating other cells in the body by helping to regulate inflammation, assisting with the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) and promoting cellular growth by secreting proteins and other growth factors.

This study adds to the growing body of evidence that supports the therapeutic use of cord blood stem cells for nerve repair. 

Many expecting parents are not aware of the medical value of stem cells from a newborn’s umbilical cord or the options for preserving them.  That’s why July has been designated as Cord Blood Awareness Month by the National Health Information Center and a society of the American Hospital Association.  If you don’t know the facts, check out the Cord Blood Education Center  developed by CBR. 

Many parents are also unaware that if you divide out the total cost of cord blood processing and annual storage at CBR for the first 18 years of a child’s life, banking a newborn’s cord blood costs less than a typical cell phone plan—about $18 per month. 

But having a baby involves many costs – and they all hit the family budget at about the same time.  That’s why this year during Cord Blood Awareness Month, we want to make expectant couples aware of a unique program that allows friends and families to contribute the entire cost of cord blood banking:  The CBR Gift Registry.

Through The CBR Gift Registry, expectant parents can receive contributions toward both the initial collection and processing fees as well as the annual storage costs.  Inviting friends and family members to contribute is easy: After you’ve enrolled in The CBR Gift Registry, you can send customized email announcements or print contribution cards to include in baby shower invitations.

Starting this month, parents can sign up for The CBR Gift Registry even before enrolling in CBR’s service.  It’s a gift for life that your newborn won’t outgrow.

July has been designated Cord Blood Awareness Month by the National Health Information Center and a society of the American Hospital Association, with the goal of educating others about the medical value of cord blood stem cells.  To recognize the occasion, throughout the month we’ll be highlighting useful information and resources for parents who want to learn more about cord blood banking.

While awareness of the medical value of cord blood stem cells is on the rise, the need for more education remains. According to a 2006 study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, three out of four expectant mothers who have heard of cord blood banking consider themselves minimally informed.

The need for greater education was the driving force behind the creation of the Cord Blood Education Center, an online program that informs expectant parents about their options for cord blood. Developed by CBR with input from healthcare providers, stem cell researchers and experts in public banking, the program describes all of the options available to expectant parents and is designed to give them access to information early enough in pregnancy so that they can make an informed choice about the storage, donation or disposal of their newborn’s cord blood stem cells. 

Even if you are aware about cord blood stem cells, you may not know all of the facts.  We invite you to take a moment to explore the Cord Blood Education Center and be sure to pass it on to others who can benefit from cord blood education. 

Fathers are a special bunch. With Dad’s guidance, many of us learned how to ride a bike, throw a ball, cook the perfect hamburger and drive a car. They also taught us valuable life lessons, such as the importance of honesty, integrity and taking responsibility for our actions.

In honor of Father’s Day this weekend and in celebration of fathers everywhere, we bring you a few of our favorite quotes about some of the most important men in our lives. Here’s to you, Dad!

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at   how much he had learned in seven years.  -- Mark Twain

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap on a rope. -- Bill Cosby

The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get. --Tim Russert
 
I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection. -- Sigmund Freud

It’s only when you grow up and step back from him―or leave him for your own home―it’s only then that you can measure his greatness and fully appreciate it. –   Margaret Truman (spoken about her father, Harry S. Truman)

To the more than 330,000 CBR dads out there: Happy Father’s Day!  Be proud of who you are and what you do!

Because clinical research has shown that stem cell count is an important factor that can affect treatment results, CBR developed a proprietary anticoagulant -- lyophilized heparin -- in an effort to increase the number of cord blood stem cells viable for preservation.  According to a study presented at an international cellular meeting demonstrating that lyophilized heparin is able to preserve the number of viable cord blood stem cells over a longer time period compared to the commonly-used anticoagulant, citrate phosphate dextrose (CPD).

Cord blood has a tendency to coagulate – or form clots – after it’s been collected, which can interfere with stem cell processing and preservation.  To prevent clotting, cord blood collection devices are pre-loaded with an anticoagulant.  CPD, which has been commercially-available for decades, was originally developed to extend the shelf life of red blood cells collected for use in blood transfusion therapies for patients with severe blood loss or anemia.  However, red blood cells are typically discarded in the process of saving cord blood stem cells.  Consequently, CBR developed its proprietary lyophilized heparin with the goal of preserving cord blood stem cells--instead of red blood cells.

CBR’s research and development efforts continue to ensure the optimal numbers of stem cells available for medical use.

Click here to read more about the study results, as well as other advantages of lyophilized heparin over CPD.

Most people would agree that when faced with an important healthcare choice, patients should receive accurate and up-to-date information in order to make an informed decision.  Yet given the rapidly evolving field of medicine in a fast-paced, demanding environment, obstetricians and their staff face the challenge of educating expectant parents about a variety of topics, one of which involves the medical use of a newborn’s stem cells from umbilical cord blood and tissue and the banking options available to expectant parents.

Data presented today at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Annual Clinical Meeting demonstrate that 98 percent of obstetric providers and staff who reviewed a unique online education program, would advise their patients to complete the program to become better informed about cord blood stem cells.  In addition, more than 90 percent of healthcare providers surveyed reported being satisfied with the program’s ability to provide patients with sufficient information to make an informed decision about cord blood preservation options. 

To date, nearly 9,000 healthcare providers and more than 40,000 obstetric patients have completed the program. More than 95 percent of patients surveyed were satisfied, reporting an increased knowledge about cord blood banking after completing the program.   

The online education program, developed by Cord Blood Registry with input from public banking experts and stem cell researchers, follows the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines recommending that expectant parents receive balanced information early enough in pregnancy to make an informed choice about the storage or disposal of their newborn’s cord blood stem cells.   Today 20 states representing 68 percent of U.S. births have passed cord blood education legislation in support of the IOM recommendations.

Dr. Thomas S. Purdon, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Arizona and a past president of ACOG, sums up the importance of cord blood education:

“Educating expectant parents about cord blood banking is not just good health policy,” says Purdon. “It’s good medical practice.”

Click here to view the press release about the study

Click here to view the data presented at ACOG

A study initiated by the World Health Organization and published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that stem cell transplantation has become an accepted therapy worldwide and that the majority of transplant patients received a source of their own (autologous) stem cells.

This global study evaluated the more than 50,000 stem cell transplants performed in a specific calendar year (2006) and found that in 57% of the cases,  the transplants used an autologous, or a patient’s own, source of stem cells for certain cancers and blood disorders.  The authors also note that a matched sibling (within the family) might represent the most efficient way of therapy for a patient with a genetic disorder such as aplastic anemia, thalassemia or severe combined immunodeficiency. 

This is the first time that the current state of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been documented on a global level, say the authors, led by Alois Gratwohl, MD, from the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland.  This information “has become a necessity for correct patient counseling and healthcare planning,” they add.

Hematopoietic stem cells collected from a newborn’s cord blood have been used successfully for more than 20 years in transplant medicine.   They are recognized as having distinct advantages compared to other sources of stem cells, because they are younger, more adaptable and have limited exposure to viruses and other environmental factors that can alter cell function.

In a recent post, we reported that Virginia passed the Cord Blood Education Bill. Just three short weeks later, two additional states – Ohio and Tennessee – have passed very similar legislation.

The growing number of states to enact cord blood education legislation stems from the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2004 report to Congress. That report highlighted the need to help all expectant parents make an informed choice prior to labor and delivery about the storage or disposal of their newborn’s cord blood stem cells.

The hope is that these new laws will do just that, specifically by:

• Encouraging prenatal care providers to educate expectant parents about their cord blood banking options early enough in pregnancy so that they can make an informed decision about whether to privately bank their child’s newborn stem cells or donate them to a public bank.

• Requiring the state’s Department of Health to publish information on its website about cord blood stem cells and parents’ options for preserving them.

Now a total of 20 states – representing 68% of the U.S. population – have legislation in place endorsing education on cord blood stem cells and the private and public cord blood banking options available to parents.

Sadly, liver disease affects one in 2,500 newborns, and 15,000 children are hospitalized for liver disease each year in the U.S. The treatment options for many severe forms of liver disease are inadequate, leaving organ transplantation as the only option available. Unfortunately there are serious limitations to the number of donors available, and organ transplantation often results in lifelong immunosuppressive medications that carry a high risk of developing other chronic diseases.

Various research groups are working to develop alternative therapies to liver transplantation, and one area showing promise is the use of stem cells in liver regenerative treatments. Below is some additional detail about the research currently underway and some of the promising outcomes:

• A preclinical study published in Liver International in July 2009 found that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from cord blood migrated to the injured livers of animal models of liver cirrhosis, demonstrating that cord blood MSC infusions may improve liver cirrhosis and raising the possibility for clinical use of cord blood to treat liver damage. (1)

• Another preclinical study found that infusions of human cord blood-derived cells efficiently engrafted into damaged livers and gave rise to hepatocyte-like cells, suggesting that cord blood stem cells may home to injured liver and stimulate tissue repair. These results were published n the journal Hepatology in June 2009. (2)

• Researchers working to develop therapies that utilize stem cells in tissue engineering to create liver tissue grafts were successful in creating a liver tissue graft from human cord blood stem cells – a discovery that may one day lead to a surgical alternative to organ transplantation. The findings were published in the December 2008 issue of Cells Tissues Organs. (3)

Given the promising pre-clinical findings described above, and the clinical research using autologous (one’s own) cells, cord blood stem cells may prove to be an ideal treatment for liver repair.

________________________________________________________
(1) Jung KH, Shin HP, Lee S, et al. Effect of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells in cirrhotic rat model. Liver Int. July 2009;29(6):898-909.
(2) Zhou P, Hohm S, Olusanyay Y, Hess DA, Nolta J. Human progenitor cells with high aldehyde dehydrogenase activity efficiently engraft into damaged liver in a novel model. Hepatology. June 2009;49(6):1992-2000.
(3) Hashemi SM, Soleimani M, Zargarian SS, et al. Differentiation of Human Cord Blood-Derived Unrestricted Somatic Stem Cells into Hepatocyte-Like Cells on Poly(epsilon-Caprolactone) Nanofiber Scaffolds. Cells Tissues Organs. Dec 2008.

The Robertson Foundation has given $10.2 million to Duke University that will help facilitate studies evaluating cord blood stem cells infusions for newborns with various conditions including brain injuries suffered at birth, like cerebral palsy, as well as congenital heart disease and forms of cancer. 

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, director of Duke’s Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, and her research team have spent decades investigating the therapeutic use of umbilical cord blood stem cells. 

“The emerging field of regenerative medicine has great promise, and this generous gift will accelerate the pace of Dr. Kurtzberg’s and other Duke scientists’ world-renowned, translational work in cell therapies,” said Dr. Victor Dzau, chief executive of the Duke University Health System.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells, normally discarded after birth, have the ability to grow and develop into various types of cells throughout the body. They can be harvested after birth and stored for future transplant in patients with many types of blood disorders, and increasingly, other diseases as well.

“Dr. Kurtzberg’s research reflects the kind of transformational science that has the potential to change the lives of thousands of people throughout the country and around the world,” Julian Robertson, of the Robertson Foundation, said in a statement.

 “This gift comes at such an important time because it will enable us to move forward with the first placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial in children with (cerebral palsy) that has been specifically designed to answer key questions about the efficacy of cord blood treatments in children with this condition,” Kurtzberg said in a statement.

Last week, the Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, signed the state’s Cord Blood Education Bill (HB85) into law requiring the State Department of Health to publish information on its website about cord blood stem cells and parents’ options of preserving them.  The new law also requires prenatal care physicians to educate expectant parents about their options early enough in pregnancy so that they can make an informed decision about whether to privately bank their child’s newborn stem cells or donate them to a public bank.

With the passage of the Virginia law, 18 states -- representing two-thirds of the U.S. population -- now benefit from state-endorsed education on cord blood stem cells and the private and public cord blood banking options available to parents. 

The increasing number of states to enact cord blood education legislation stems from recommendations that were first issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2004.  In a comprehensive report to Congress analyzing the issues involved with creating a national banking program, the IOM included two key recommendations highlighting the need to help all expectant parents make an informed choice about the storage or disposal of their newborn's cord blood stem cells and to provide education on all cord blood banking options prior to labor and delivery:

According to Dr. George Bronsky, OB-GYN and Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at Fairfax Hospital, parents have the right to informed choice:

“Because expectant parents have only one opportunity to preserve their child’s cord blood, they have the right to be educated about their options,” he said.  “There are many current therapeutic uses for these cells, and research is already underway that may soon lead to treatments using a child’s own cord blood for conditions such as juvenile diabetes and cerebral palsy. Despite the value of these cells, published data shows that three out of every four pregnant women consider themselves only ‘minimally informed’.”

CBR today announced the launch of two industry-leading innovations rolled into one: a new stem cell collection system that preserves a greater number and broader diversity of newborn stem cells -- from cord blood as well as the umbilical cord tissue itself – for potential use in a wider range of medical uses.  The new collection system includes: 1) an improved cord blood collection device that collects 30 percent more cord blood, and 2) a new supplementary option to preserve a section of umbilical cord tissue, which is a rich source of mesenchymal cells (MSCs). 

As reported in some of our previous blog posts, MSCs are a type of stem cell that are the building blocks of bone, cartilage, and connective tissue, and mediate the body’s inflammatory response to damaged or injured cells.  With more than 80 clinical trials currently underway in the U.S., researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the potential of MSCs to treat many different conditions, such as heart disease; stroke; bone disease and injury; and autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.  Researchers are also investigating the potential of MSCs to heal common joint and sports injuries.*  Because umbilical cord tissue has significantly more MSCs than the cord blood, CBR’s new collection system preserves a section of umbilical cord tissue, so that the newborn MSCs contained in the tissue can be later processed for medical application. 

In terms of cord blood, having more stem cells stored and available for treatment can result in better clinical outcomes and may facilitate multiple uses in regenerative medicine applications.  Although CBR’s 99 percent cell recovery rate is already the highest in the industry, the company’s philosophy of pursuing continuous improvement led CBR to look for ways to increase the amount of cord blood initially collected, thus leading to higher overall stem cell recovery.  CBR’s new cord blood collection device helps the physician to better visualize the collection as well as assist in dislodging a clot or tissue plug, which may lead to higher volume collections.  Increasing the collection volume of cord blood ultimately will yield more stem cells preserved for future use. 

Click here to see video animation of the diversity of stem cells in the umbilical cord blood and cord tissue.

Major news outlets recently reported research demonstrating that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a specific type of stem cell with unique properties, restored transparency to the cloudy corneas of laboratory mice.  The data, presented by researchers during the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in December 2009, suggests that transplantation of umbilical MSCs could be a potential treatment regimen for corneal disease – whether present at birth or acquired.  This study provides further evidence supporting the potential of umbilical MSCs for a variety of diseases.

Based on a U.S. News and World Report article about the study, those with corneal diseases may stand to benefit most if/when such a therapy were to become clinically available.  They wouldn’t need to wait for a donated cornea, which, as the article states, are in short supply, so the prospect of an alternative therapy would be helpful.

More than 80 clinical trials are already underway using MSCs, and doctors are enthusiastic about the results reported for therapies addressing several conditions, including stroke, heart attack, bone injuries and autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. In addition, because MSCs serve as the foundation of connective tissue, applications in treating common joint and sports injuries may be another potential application with widespread use.  MSCs are found in bone marrow, fat tissue, and the umbilical cord.

Read more about other studies recently reported in The Stem Cell Source showing the reparative abilities of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs):

Can Newborn Stem Cells from the Umbilical Cord Help Tiny Lungs Breathe?

More Heartening News for Cardiac Patients: Specific Type of Stem Cell Helps Repair Heart Damage