According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), sports-related concussions, which are a form of brain injury, are an epidemic in the U.S. with as many as three million of these injuries occurring annually.  A recent episode of 60-Minutes examined this issue and a study linking concussions to brain disease.  The study conducted by the University of North Carolina looked at retired NFL players and found a correlation between the number of concussions and the onset of dementia and depression.

And while concussion is often a more mild form of brain injury, it is estimated that nearly 1.4 million people in the U.S. sustain a more serious form of brain injury or traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually.  The leading causes of TBI are falls and traffic accidents and the two age groups at highest risk for TBI are 0 to 4 year olds and 15 to 19 year olds.  While most cases of TBI are not severe, estimates are that more than 5.3 million Americans have life-long need for help to perform activities of daily living due to some form of brain injury.

With growing understanding of the risks and prevalence of brain injury, there is also more research into therapies to improve outcomes. Previously, there's been no therapy that can repair damage to brain tissue. But stem cells are one area of research that offers promise for healing nerve and brain cells.  Research in animal studies has demonstrated the ability of cord blood stem cells to migrate to injured areas of the brain after trauma.

That's why the CBR Center for Regenerative Medicine has made this area of medicine a priority focus and is helping to facilitate groundbreaking research at a growing number of U.S. medical centers evaluating the use of a child’s own cord blood to improve outcomes after a variety of brain injuries including anoxic brain injury at birth, cerebral palsy, and TBI.

CBR is committed to helping to advance the promise of regenerative medicine around brain injury.  Visit the CBR Web site to learn more about research on brain injury and stem cells. 

Researchers at the Salk Institute announced last week that they successfully reprogrammed cord blood cells to function like embryonic stem cells.  As reported by Science Daily, the institute’s study results are significant because they identify cord blood as a convenient source of versatile stem cells with theoretically limitless potential.

Embryonic stem cells have been the focus of scientific interest because they are considered “pluripotent,” which literally means “many potentials” (pluri + potent).  Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to generate all of the various cell types in the body.  However, the collection of embryonic stem cells raises ethical controversy because the embryo is destroyed in the process.

Induced pluipotent stem cells (iPS) are created by collecting tissue from child or adult tissue without harm to the individual and then genetically modifying the cells to behave like embryonic cells with pluripotent characteristics. 

According to Juan-Carolos Izpisua Belmonte, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk Institute’s Gene Expression Laboratory who led the study, “Cord blood stem cells could serve as a safe, “ready-to-use” source for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), since they are easily accessible, immunologically immature and quick to return to an embryonic stem cell-like state.” 

The cord blood stem cells used in this research passed all standard tests for pluripotency and were also more readily and quickly reprogrammed than other adult cells. According to Dr. Belmonte with cord blood stem cells “It’s almost like they are already half-way there.” 

Dr. Belmonte’s next goal is to reprogram cord blood stem cells using methods that are safe for clinical trials in humans. 

Individuals who have banked their baby’s cord blood stem cells for their own use could be among the first to have access to a wide range of potential new therapies as they become available.  According to another study author, Ulrich Martin from Hannover Medical School in Germany, privately banked cord blood might actually be the source of a sufficient amount of cells to treat adults who develop diseases later in life – for example, heart disease – with cells derived from their own cord blood.

Read more about this news from the Salk Institute researchers.

Expectant parents in Ohio could soon benefit from better information about their options to preserve the stem cells in their baby’s umbilical cord blood if the state Senate passes a well-supported, bi-partisan education bill that has already been passed by the House. 
  
House Bill 102 would require the Ohio Department of Health to provide cord blood banking information and encourage health care professionals to educate parents about the options to preserve the stem cells for family use or donate them for public use.
 
Similar legislation has already been enacted in 17 other states, yet despite recent legislative advances, published research shows that three out of every four pregnant women consider themselves only “minimally informed” about their cord blood banking options.    

Cord blood education is good health policy.  In 2004, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies recommended that all pregnant women be educated about cord blood stem cells early enough in pregnancy for them to make an informed decision about the options to preserve these valuable cells. 

If you live in Ohio, you can make a difference! Contact your state senator and ask them to support Ohio House Bill 102. You can find information about your state senator and other key senate leaders at www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/. With your help, we can help ensure that more pregnant women receive information about the value of their baby’s cord blood stem cells and their options for preserving them.

On September 23rd, organizations around the world dedicated to advancing stem cell science and regenerative therapies will come together
to mark Stem Cell Awareness Day. The Day is an opportunity to celebrate the progress we’ve made in regenerative medicine and to look ahead toward the advances still to come. With its rich supply of stem cells, umbilical cord blood plays a significant role in furthering stem cell research. 

If you’d like to get involved, there are several ways to mark the day and show your support of stem cell research:

• Have a way with words? Then consider entering a stem cell poetry contest sponsored by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in honor of Stem Cell Awareness Day. To participate, submit your poem to stemcellday@cirm.ca.gov before the September 14 deadline. 

• Get involved with events and activities held in your area. You can find a list of events by location at www.stemcellday.com.

• Tell a pregnant friend about the medial value of umbilical cord blood stem cells and how they’ve been saving lives for over 20 years and have been used in the treatment of nearly 80 serious diseases, including leukemia, other cancers, and blood disorders. By spreading the word, you can help advance stem cell science.

To learn more about Stem Cell Awareness Day, visit www.stemcellday.com.

Helping parents protect and celebrate the health of their children is CBR’s primary mission and a driving force behind everything we do. 

Years ago, we decided to start sending every child whose cord blood is banked with us a copy of Karen Katz’s classic children’s story, “Where Is Baby’s Belly Button?” on his or her first birthday.  It’s a tradition that serves as a reminder to us – and to our clients – about what makes CBR unique.

This year we decided to take this tradition one step further.  Since our inception, a driving force of our culture has been to “give back” to the communities we serve.  It is in this spirit that we are pleased to announce a new partnership we have formed with First Candle, a leading national nonprofit organization focused on promoting safe pregnancies and the survival of babies through the first years of life.

In recognition of our common goal – ensuring that more babies achieve a happy, healthy first birthday – CBR is making an annual donation to First Candle in celebration of our clients' first birthdays.  Our contribution is intended to highlight the great work that First Candle does as well as to recognize the work that is still left to do.

First Candle provides a wealth of resources for new and expectant parents during pregnancy and after delivery as well as a wide range of information for nurses and other healthcare providers.  For more information about First Candle, you can visit their Website at http://www.firstcandle.org/. 

As the Stem Cell Source blog closes in on its sixth month, we want to take the opportunity to see if we are writing about the issues that matter to you. 

So what questions do you have?  Do you want to know more about public policy, advances in cord blood stem cell science, or the status of clinical trials?  Do you want to hear from doctors, clients, or CBR staff?  

Please email us and let us know what topics interest you.  We will use your input as the basis for future blog posts.  We can’t respond to individual inquiries, but we’ll do our best to address on our blog the answers to our readers’ most common questions.

Since CBR's inception, our founders have insisted that one overarching rule guide everything we do: Treat others the way you'd like to be treated. It's simple, but it's Golden. In fact, we believe this is the only way to treat people. Every CBR employee strives to make sure we live up to this golden promise.

How are we doing? We ask every new client to give us a report card on their experience with us. We literally get hundreds of report cards a week. On average, more than 99 percent of our clients report that they're satisfied. That's a great number... but from our perspective, it means we have a bit more work to do. At CBR, every client experience must be golden.

Imagine a damaged human heart restored to its natural function, thanks to the contribution of umbilical cord blood stem cells. It may sound like science fiction, but research suggests that this scenario may not be too far in our future.

At the American Heart Association’s most recent Scientific Sessions, an annual gathering to explore the latest breakthroughs in heart health, researchers presented findings demonstrating that cord blood could potentially be used to build new heart valves for babies. During the Sessions, researchers presented data from a small study using stem cells obtained from infants’ umbilical cord blood at birth that were seeded onto biodegradable heart valve scaffolds and grown in the laboratory.  According to the study, the stem cells formed a tissue layer around the scaffolding and created viable heart tissue.

So what does this mean? According to Ralf Sodian, M.D., and lead author of the study, “in our concept, if prenatal testing shows a heart defect, you could collect blood from the umbilical cord at birth, harvest the stem cells, and fabricate a heart valve that is ready when the baby needs it.”  The benefit of tissue-engineered valves is that they could grow as the child matures, unlike current replacements from animal tissue or human donations which need to be replaced once outgrown.

In related, more recent research published in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon (2009), endothelial cells (which line the interior surface of blood vessels) from the umbilical cord may prove to be more biocompatible with blood than other biomedical material when used as a film on mechanical heart valve prostheses. While scientists are only beginning to explore the possibilities, both studies indicate there is reason to take heart about the direction of cord blood-related research and its potential to address heart-related issues.

You can find more information about the AHA study below:

Umbilical cord blood may help build new heart valves  

In addition to the time for family barbecues, summer vacations and Independence Day celebrations, July is also recognized as Cord Blood Awareness Month by a society of the American Hospital Association.

Despite emerging research exploring the use of cord blood stem cells to treat conditions such as brain injury, diabetes, hearing loss and heart defects, cord blood awareness is low.  In fact, many pregnant women today don’t learn about the option to save their newborn’s cord blood. According to research published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 3 out of every 4 pregnant women consider themselves only “minimally informed.”  

What’s important to know is that cord blood education is considered good health policy.  In 2004, the Institute of Medicine recommended that all pregnant women should be educated about cord blood stem cells early enough in pregnancy that they can make an informed decision about the options to preserve these valuable cells.  In the last few years, 16 states have passed laws supporting better cord blood education in line with the Institute’s guidance.

In honor of Cord Blood Awareness Month, you can help spread the word about the medical value of cord blood stem cells. While you’re enjoying the long summer days, take a moment to tell any expecting friends and family members about the importance of preserving these valuable cells. In doing so, you may empower others to make informed choices regarding their family’s future health.

Read CBR’s press release commemorating Cord Blood Awareness Month

When we think of recycling, it’s usually in terms of pizza boxes, soda cans and glass bottles, but RN Janine Henson has a different perspective. In a recent article posted at PregnancyToday.com, a popular education site for expectant moms, Henson describes cord blood banking as a form of biological recycling. “In this age of product recycling, it is exciting news that we now have the opportunity to recycle life-saving blood cells that have routinely been discarded with the placenta after childbirth,” Henson writes.

In the article, Henson provides a comprehensive overview of cord blood stem cells, including the collection and banking process, public and private banking options, and current and potential uses of cord blood stem cells—from leukemia and lymphoma to diabetes. For Hansen, the value of cord blood stem cells is clear, particularly for the thousands of Americans with life-threatening conditions who are unable to find bone marrow matches through the public donor system. “Umbilical cord blood collection and banking can make the difference in life or death for those awaiting stem cell transplants,” Henson writes.

Further Reading: The ABCs of Cord Blood Banking

This week North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed a law that requires the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to provide free education about cord blood stem cells and the options for preserving them to parents and physicians. Sponsored by Representative Margaret Dickson, this law also encourages physicians to make the information available to expectant parents early enough in pregnancy so that the parents can make an informed decision about whether to participate in a public or private cord blood banking program.

North Carolina is the 22nd state to institute legislation about cord blood education, guided by recommendations 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 for healthcare providers 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:

• Recommendation 5.2:  Informed Consent Should be Obtained Prior to Labor and Delivery.  Informed consent for the collection, storage and use of cord blood should be obtained before labor and delivery, and after the adequate disclosure of information.
• Recommendation 5.3:  Donors Must Be Provided with Clear Information about their Options.  The information provided to a donor must include a balanced perspective on the different options for banking (family banking or public donation). The information disclosed for donation should not include language that gives the impression that the unit will be available to the family after donation.                                                                                      

The importance of the IOM study in shaping health policy on cord blood banking was highlighted in a U.S. Senate Committee Report that accompanied The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, creating the national cord blood banking program:

“The committee strongly supports the IOM report recommendation that women be provided with a balanced perspective and clear information in order to participate, actively and knowledgably, in the choice of whether or how to donate cord blood. Informed consent is likely to include, at least, consideration of the following options: public donation or private storage; and disposal.”

Thanks to the work of the Institute of Medicine, federal and state health policy on cord blood is changing. With the passage of the North Carolina law, nearly 75 percent of the U.S. population now benefits from state-endorsed education on cord blood stem cells.

A few months ago we wrote about the Family Cord Blood Banking Act (H.R. 1718), a new federal bill that would allow parents to use pre-tax dollars to pay for cord blood stem cells. Now we’re asking for your help in making sure the bill becomes law.

Under current IRS regulations, you can use tax-free dollars to pay for everyday medical expenses like over-the-counter cough syrup or band aids, but not the cost of preserving your newborn’s stem cells. Enabling families to use tax-free dollars to pay for cord blood banking through flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) can reduce the cost of cord blood banking – a significant benefit for many families who are struggling due to current economic conditions.

The Family Cord Blood Banking Act has solid bi-partisan support, but more co-sponsors are needed to accelerate the process and help ensure that the bill becomes law. You can support this effort by asking your Representative to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 1718 in three easy steps:

1. Know what the bill says:  Read the content of H.R. 1718

2. Draft an e-mail:  It’s important to use your own words, but you can use this sample template to get started. If you’ve banked your child’s cord blood, be sure to include the reasons why you chose to do so.

3. Contact your U.S. Representative: Visit the U.S. House of Representatives “Write Your Representative” web site. 

The Time is Now!

Because Congress is actively discussing Healthcare Reform issues now, your e-mails will have the most impact in the next three weeks (before the July 4th Holiday).  And, because every voice counts, encourage your friends and family to write their U.S. Representatives, too.

Thanks for supporting this important legislation to make cord blood banking more affordable for all American families!

Safety Mom Alison Rhodes has been an active proponent of child health and safety issues ever since her first child died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in 1997. A fervent believer that parents are the best advocates for their children, Alison maintains a website and blog, and travels the country speaking on topics about children’s health and well-being, including cord blood banking.

Alison recently appeared on ABC San Francisco’s The View from the Bay television program, where she discussed emerging research involving cord blood stem cells as well as the cost of preserving a child’s own cord blood for future use – approximately $18 per month for the first 18 years of a child’s life.  “Things are being done with cord blood that are absolutely amazing,” Alison stated.  Given the tremendous pace of medical research, “it’s insurance for the future.”

View Safety Mom Alison Rhodes on The View from the Bay

Visit the Safety Mom online

Increasingly, physicians and researchers are studying the use of a child’s own cord blood stem cells to help repair specific tissue or organs in the body damaged by disease or injury.  Referred to as regenerative medicine, this field of study has the potential to change the treatment of conditions that have no cure today. 

Dr. Marra Francis, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and former Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Texas is a strong believer in the value of cord blood stem cells, as well as the importance of educating expectant mothers about the ability to preserve this important medical resource.

Recently Dr. Francis’ shared her perspectives with us:

What do you tell your patients about cord blood banking?
From my perspective, there are only two things you can buy for your unborn child that are lifesaving: a good car seat and cord blood banking.  I educate every one of my patients on the options for preserving cord blood. 

How did you first become involved with cord blood banking?
I was introduced to cord blood banking during my residency. We collected cord blood for private storage, public donation and for a study using cord blood to research the impact of toxins from the World Trade Center disaster to unborn children. During my chief year of residency, I became pregnant and knew from my experience and education of cord blood banking that I wanted to have this valuable medical resource for my child.

How do you incorporate cord blood education into your practice?
This is an important topic, so I begin cord blood education on the first visit by handing out educational materials.   I check at the both 16-week visit as well as the 20-week visit during the ultrasound to see if the patient has any questions. By this time the parents, and usually the grandparents, are a very captive audience as they first see the baby. My final discussion with the patient is at the 36th week, so the decision on whether to store, donate or discard their child’s cord blood is made well before the newborn arrives. 

What do you tell your patients when they ask about the cost of banking?
I believe the cost of banking should be incorporated into a baby budget established at the very beginning of pregnancy.  A newborn does not know – or care – if the crib bedding matches the curtains, or if they have on a designer “onesie.”  But the ability to provide your child a treatment option for a life-threatening illness or injury is absolutely priceless. I often compare the cost of banking to the cost of a flat-screen television.  The price may be the same, but the value to your family is very different.  All of my children have their cord blood banked, and we still use the television from my husband’s college fraternity house.

What do most patients ask about cord blood banking?
I often get asked about the likelihood of using banked cord blood stem cells.  I point to the published data that suggests 1 in 200 individuals will need a stem cell transplant at some point in life.  I also explain that the odds of using cord blood will increase with advancements in regenerative treatments for tissue and organ damage. I truly envision a day when patients arriving at the ER will be routinely questioned by the triage nurse, “Do you have your cord blood banked?”  That answer will determine the course of treatment for the patient.

We may not be the only ones to benefit from banking cord blood. In a recent blog entry published at the Huffington Post, nurse practitioner Barb Dehn describes how the latest advances in regenerative medicine may have exciting implications for thoroughbred horses. For example, the stem cells of race horses may someday be used by veterinarians to safely treat what could otherwise be career-ending injuries.

In her blog entry, Barb points out that many researchers are now recommending that owners and breeders of prize-winning thoroughbreds bank their umbilical cord blood. “If it’s a good idea for a race horse, then you can bet it’s probably a great idea for humans,” Barb writes in her blog post. We couldn’t agree more. You can read Barb’s blog entry in its entirety here.