What Diseases Can Be Treated With Cord Blood?
FDA approves the use of cord blood for nearly 80 diseases, including various types of anemias, malignancies, deficiencies of the immune system, and inherited metabolic disorders. Individuals younger than 18 years of age benefit more from the transplants, but advancements in medical science have brought ways so that persons of all ages can benefit from this therapy.
You can find some affordable cord blood banks at $19.99 per month as researchers are finding more ways to use cord blood in disease treatment. Athgoroites are conducting promising research in cerebral palsy, autism, adult stroke, and many more sectors. Below, we have discussed some diseases that use cord blood in treatment.
• Autism
A person with autism is unable to participate in verbal & non-verbal social communication, which leads to more pressing concerns like social interactons, overall behavior, sensory sensitivity, and language development. Dr. Kurtzberg 2017 released some results of their preliminary phase I study showing that infusing umbilical blood in children with autism is safe. After this, they went on to conduct a phase II study that showed the ineffectiveness of this treatment on social behavior. However, paying the cord banking costs is worthwhile as children with intellectual disabilities have an improvement in eye tracking, communication, and EEG measurements.
Dr. Chez has conducted another study at Sutter Institute that stem cells of cord blood help improve behavior and language in children with autism. Cord blood repairs these children’s immune systems, and these positive effects do not wear off over time.
• Diabetes
There are various types of diabetes where the body cannot produce or use insulin properly. To date, no cure for this disease is known, and has taken many lives every year. The body’s insulin manages diabetes by supplementing through needles or pumps. Cord blood can play an efficient role here. It can create islets in the pancreas that can produce insulin. Cases have shown that people treated with umbilical cord blood have gone years without insulin injections.
The cord banking costs are small compared to the risk of your child being exposed to diabetes as multiple clinical trials use cord blood to treat this disease. Patients have shown improved glucose control and reduced dependence on insulin.
• Heart Diseases
Heart diseases cause the death of both men and women as the heart cells do not repair themselves naturally. Coronary heart disease is the most common and leads to heart attacks. Stem cells are a great hope in the treatment of these diseases. The stem cells of the umbilical cord replace the damaged heart tissue & valves. It also establishes new vessels to supply the tissue with blood. Surprisingly, stem cells can build new heart tissue or even the whole heart, something you cannot achieve naturally.
The American Heart Association estimates stem cell breakthroughs can cure cardiovascular disorders one day. Patients treated with stem cells show more improvement in left ventricular pumping than those treated with a placebo.