December 2009 - Posts

• Dr. Oz Recommends Saving Cord Blood

  Posted: Dec 22, 2009

  In a just-released book on pregnancy that is getting a lot of attention, bestselling authors Dr. Mehmet Oz - who Oprah calls "America’s Doctor" -- and Dr. Michael Roizen highlight the value of cord blood stem cells and recommend that expectant parents save this important medical resource.  The newly released book, YOU: Having a Baby, is the latest of the popular “YOU” series of books which focus on the science of the body in a clear, compelling, and easy-to-understand manner (YOU: On a Diet, YOU: Staying Young, etc.).  Here’s what Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen have to say about cord blood:  Save the Blood Well before delivery, you’ll be asked whether you would like to bank some of your baby’s cord blood for stem cells. If you are not asked, ask your doc yourself. We recommend that you save the blood. That’s because cord blood can be used to help treat nearly fifty different conditions. In fact, there’s a 1-in-2,700 chance that your child will need that blood by age twenty-one and an even greater chance that somebody in the family will be able to use it. You’ll need to prepare ahead of time if this is something you want done during the delivery. Private cord blood banking costs up to $2,000 to process the specimen, then about $100 a year for maintenance. The public option is free, but as with a regular blood bank, your specimen can be used to help someone else; if your child needs the specimen, you cannot get your sample back. To learn more about the new pregnancy book, please visit Dr. Oz’s website Have feedback? Tags: cord blood, You: Having a Baby, Dr. Oz, banking, oprah

• Study Result: Sheep’s Own Cord Blood Helps Heart Damage

  Posted: Dec 18, 2009

  Based on data recently published in Cell Transplantation, researchers demonstrated that in a study with sheep, self-donated – also called autologous – cord blood stem cells played an important role in heart repair following surgery. Human patients undergoing surgical repair for a common congenital heart disease called tetrology of fallot (TOF) often experience blood leakage into the right ventricle of the heart.  This leakage can cause the ventricle to malfunction, resulting in complications that could potentially lead to death.  In this controlled study, 20 sheep underwent heart surgery to simulate the post-surgical condition following repair of TOF.  The researchers of the study wanted to determine if injecting a sheep’s own stem cells from umbilical cord blood was safe and could help protect the right ventricle of the heart from this common side effect of congenital heart surgery.  Three months following the surgery, ten of the sheep received an injection of their own umbilical cord blood into the right ventricle of the heart, and ten received a placebo injection.  Ninety days following treatment, when physical exertion was simulated in a stress test the speed of contraction and relaxation of the right ventricle was significantly higher (an indication of improved function) in those that received the stem cells compared to those that received the placebo.  In addition, the treated animals showed substantially higher capillary density than the untreated group, leading the researchers to conclude that the cord blood stem cell treatment is safe and may positively influence the function of the heart. These study results contribute to the growing body of research suggesting that using a child’s own cord blood stem cells may play a therapeutic role in cardiovascular repair, particularly in congenital heart defects. Click here to view the study   Have feedback? Tags: cord blood, stem cells, umbilical cord blood, heart damage, Cell Transplantation, TOF

• Brandyn Orr Celebrates 10 Years Cancer-Free Thanks to Brother’s Cord Blood

  Posted: Dec 14, 2009

  Brandyn Orr was only two years old when he was first diagnosed with leukemia. Determined to do whatever it took to save his life, Brandyn’s family embarked on what would turn out to be an agonizing, three-year course of chemotherapy. Brandyn’s leukemia eventually went into remission, but just six months after completing chemotherapy, he relapsed. At age 6, Brandyn needed a cord blood stem cell transplant as soon as possible in order to survive.   Fast forward 10 years, and today Brandyn is a healthy 16-year-old, thanks in large part to a transplant of his younger brother Devyn’s cord blood stem cells.  While doctors are exploring new uses of a child’s own stem cells to treat conditions such as traumatic brain injury, cord blood stem cells have already been used for more than 20 years to treat a number of conditions, including leukemia. In fact, one of the first uses of stem cells in medicine was to regenerate healthy blood and immune cells in cancer patients after they received chemotherapy. To date, several medical therapies using cord blood stem cells within the family have benefited nearly all biological siblings of the newborn, like Brandyn and Devyn. Knowing that cord blood may be able to help Brandyn, his mother Susan had banked Devyn’s cord blood when he was born. Brandyn received his cord blood transplant 10 years ago this month and has been cancer-free ever since. Susan and Brandyn recently told their story on Phoenix, Arizona’s Channel 3 News.  “I highly recommend saving cord blood,” Brandyn says. “Just like it saved my life, it could save your child’s life.”   Have feedback? Tags: cord blood, umbilical cord blood, leukemia, stem cell, Brandyn Orr