Umbilical
cord blood cells are the blood cells that are collected from the umbilical
cord of the baby as soon as the baby is born.
This
blood is collected with the consent of the mother of the baby. These
umbilical cord blood cells are used in the treatment of anemia and
leukemia in patients. These
patients require the replacement of stem cells that are needed for
the generation of healthy blood cells in our body.The healthy stem
cells produce the right quantity of blood cells that is required for
our body. Sometime
the stem cells over produces the blood cells and sometimes it produces
less quantity of the blood cells. Such defective stem cells need to
be replaced in the patient. Since
the umbilical cord blood cells are found to be an excellent source
of stem cells, these umbilical cord blood cells are sought after.
There is no harm to the baby or the mother of the baby if the umbilical
cord blood is collected from the baby. Before
the collection of the umbilical cord blood cells the blood of the
baby is tested for any infections or discrepancies and when it is
ensured that it is free from infections, the umbilical cord blood
is taken. The cord blood cells are taken in a blood bag or a vial.
Mostly
the blood bag is used since it is easy to retrieve the blood cells
separately from a blood bag than a vial. People can voluntarily come
to donate the umbilical cord blood and it may be very useful for the
treatment of leukemia and anemia in patients. A person
who is willing to donate voluntarily should register themselves with
the blood bank of their intention to do so. The blood bank would make
arrangements to collect the umbilical cord blood cells. The umbilical
cord blood cells can be stored in a public umbilical cord blood bank
or a private umbilical cord blood bank. One of the main advantage
of storing with a public bank is that most of the services are provided
at free of cost to the public. In a
private bank most of the services are charged a fee. Whenever a doctor
needs stem cells for his patients he will be approaching these umbilical
cord blood banks for the need of his patients. Matching
the stem cell of the patient with that of the donor is essential and
important. Private Banks store cord blood cells of the donors and
mostly these are used for the patients in the donors family.
Umbilical
cord blood cells storage