Cord Blood Banking News

Stem Cells Make Prime Time on Oprah Show

2009-04-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Michale J. Fox and Dr. Oz joined Oprah to discuss potential cures for Parkinson's, which included the important role that stem cells will play in this process.

View show

Facebook Group for Cord Blood Parents

2009-04-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

A new Facebook group has recently come online for parents who have banked their baby's cord blood.

Cord Blood Parents at Facebook.com

Adult & Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells Are What Work

2009-04-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes argues that the science points to adult stem-cells (which he defines as being derived from “umbilical cords, wisdom teeth, amniotic fluid and various tissues”) as regenerative medicine’s partner, not embryonic.

Rep. Forbes has introduced bipartisan legislation, “Patients First Act” (H.R. 877) requiring that federal dollars spent on stem cell research be spent on adult stem-cell research.

View article at HumanEvents.com

Regenerative Medicine Coalition Using Cord Blood Stem Cells

2009-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

A coalition for the use of cord blood stem cells in regenerative medicine was announced recently. This group will promote the research and studies involved in using newborn umbilical cord blood stem cells in such cases as cerebral palsy, tramatic brain injury (TBI), and juvenile diabetes.

Link to CRSCM.org

New Cord Blood Stem Cell Blog

2009-03-18T09:37:00.001-07:00

The Stem Cell Source opened for business last week, providing a new source of news and information from the Cord Blood Registry, the largest family stem cell bank in the world.

Their first post was a look at the difference between cord blood stem cells and other types, specifically embryonic.

Read blog post

Stem Cell Research Opened by President Obama

2009-03-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

In a historic move forward today, Present Barak Obama opened the doors once again for scientists to learn more about the life saving qualities found in stem cells.

Cord blood stem cells have never been at issue, but we hope that this renewed focus on stem cells will also help raise awareness for the autologous use in regenerative medicine for newborn stem cells.

Regenerative medicine - learn more about regenerative medicine and cord blood stem cells, currently used in treatments for cerebral palsy and juvenile diabetes. Other trials are sought for TBI (Tramatic Brain Injury).

Center for Regenerative Medicine - Cord Blood Stem Cells

2009-03-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

The CBR Center for Regenerative Medicine to Help Initiate Hearing Loss Study

Cord Blood Registry also announced today that it is in discussions with three leading medical institutions to launch a clinical study that will evaluate the use of a child's own newborn stem cells to treat hearing loss caused by an accident or severe illness.

The research will be facilitated and coordinated by The CBR Center for Regenerative Medicine, which was established by Cord Blood Registry as a scientific research collaborative with leading medical research institutions from around the country. The company estimates that more than 600 children already banked with CBR may have some form of severe hearing loss. The CBR Center for Regenerative Medicine is currently screening potential candidates for this study.

Cord Blood Registry Shows Increased Use in Brain Injury, Diabetes, and Cerebral Palsy

2008-05-23T08:25:00.001-07:00

Cord Blood Registry Gains Momentum in First Quarter:

Forecasts Strong Enrollment Growth in 2008
New Data Shows Increased Use of a Child’s Own Cord Blood Stem Cells
for Brain Injury and Type 1 Diabetes in Ongoing Clinical Studies

Business Wire

Umbilical Cord Blood Can Provide Cure for Life-Threatening Diseases

2008-05-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

Saving Nature's Miracle Substance
Umbilical Cord Blood Can Provide Cure for Life-Threatening Diseases

When Erica Jones gave birth to her son Brandon, the Houston woman made a decision that could preserve a precious resource, a resource that has the potential to save lives -- umbilical cord blood.

Cells from the umbilical cords of newborn babies can be used to fight diseases.That blood contains stem cells that can be used to treat blood cancers, leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and about 60 other diseases. But the sad reality is only a tiny fraction of mothers donate their cord blood.

Valuable (Cord) Blood Discarded

2008-04-07T16:55:00.000-07:00

Full Article

99% of umbilical cord cells, which can be used to treat diseases, thrown out

Imagine doctors throwing away thousands of doses of proven cancer-curing medications every day.

In a sense, that's already happening.

Cord Blood Education Bill Passed

2008-04-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

The House of Representatives for the State of Pennsylvania passed bill Number 807, provding for umbilical cord blood banking; requiring health care facilities and providers to give pregnant patients information regarding umbilical cord blood banking; and requiring health care facilities to permit pregnant patients to arrange for umbilical cord blood donations.

Alzheimber's Treatment with Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells

2008-03-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Umbilical cord blood cell therapy may reduce signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, EurekAlert (3/26) - An animal study currently underway at the University of South Florida demonstrated that an infusion of human cord blood stem cells may reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Umbilical Cord Blood Discovery - Researchers Dramatically Enhance Growth of Stem Cells

2008-03-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Medical News Today (3/25) – Researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles have discovered a way to enhance the growth of stem cells from umbilical cord blood after transplantation.

Business Week - Umbilical Cord Blood Injections Aid Aging Brains

2008-03-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Business Week Article

MONDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- Injection of human umbilical cord blood cells (UCBC) boosted the brains of aged lab rats, University of South Florida researchers report.

They found that the injections led to improvements in the microenvironment of the hippocampus region of the rats' brains and subsequent rejuvenation of neural stem/progenitor cells.

Cerebral Palsy - Amazing Recovery Attributed to Cord Blood Stem Cells

2008-03-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

Toddler diagnosed with cerebral palsy shows remarkable improvement

The 2-year-old son of the Sacramento, Calif., couple was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but is now showing fewer signs of the disorder and marked improvement after an infusion of his own stem cells — made possible by the preservation of his own cord blood shortly before birth.

> View TODAY show video

Saving Your Baby's Cord Blood

2008-03-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

Dr. Margaret Lambert-Woolley has a warning for expectant parents. "You only have one chance to do this," she says. "There's no second chance."

That single opportunity? Choosing to preserve at birth a baby's umbilical cord blood, a rich source of stem cells that increasingly are being used in medical treatments to enhance and save lives including that of the newborn.

Time Magazine Article About Cord Blood Banking

2008-02-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

Creating a Cord-Blood Lifeline

"The potential is so significant," says Dr. Jennifer Willert, a stem-cell transplant specialist at the Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. "Not to have families know about the possibility of banking, that's tragic."

Parents generally see private banking as an insurance policy should their child or a sibling fall ill later in life. Public donation does not guarantee availability to the donor's family should the need later arise. "If you don't save the cells [privately], they can never be fully yours," says Dave Zitlow, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Cord Blood Registry, the world's largest cord-blood private bank.

Cord Blood Stem cell therapy saved Keegans life - an interesting video of a family's personal decision to bank cord blood.

2008-02-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

See how cord blood stem cells saved this young boys life.

Stem Cells From Cord Blood And Cardiovascular Diseases

2008-02-21T10:58:00.000-08:00

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. Approximately one million people die of cardiovascular disease annually despite medical intervention, with coronary artery disease claiming 50 percent of those lives.

The stem cells found in a newborn's umbilical cord blood are one type of stem cell holding great promise in cardiovascular repair

Full Article

Study Analysis: High Percentage of Blood Disorder Patients Were Cured or Achieved Remission When Treated with Stem Cells from Their Own Cord Blood...

2008-02-14T10:57:00.000-08:00

via Business Wire

Study Analysis: High Percentage of Blood Disorder Patients Were Cured or Achieved Remission When Treated with Stem Cells from Their Own Cord Blood or a Sibling’s Data Presented at Major Medical Meeting Also Highlights Low Risk of Transplant-Related Complications with Genetically-Related Cord Blood Stem Cells

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a retrospective review of blood disorder patients treated with stem cells from their own cord blood (autologous transplant) or from the cord blood of a sibling (allogeneic-related transplant), the majority of the patients were cured or achieved remission

Full Article

Leukemia and Cord Blood Stem Cells

2008-02-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Could These Two Little Girls Help Researchers Find the Cure???

These two sweet little girls have opened the door to a new look at leukemia.

The breakthrough came through studying four-year-old identical twins Olivia, who has leukemia, and Isabella, who is healthy. They found that both twins had abnormal ‘pre-leukemia’ stem cells in their blood that can either lie dormant in the bone marrow or develop into full-blown leukemia stem cells. The results were then confirmed with experiments using human cord blood cells.

Link to original blog post

Cord Blood Comparable To Matched Bone Marrow, According To Research -Link to Science Daily

Association of Family Cord Blood Banks Applauds ACOG Opinion

2008-02-06T23:41:00.000-08:00

via Business Wire

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a statement issued today, the Association of Family Cord Blood Banks (AFCBB) expressed support for updated recommendations on cord blood banking put forward by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

Cord Blood Banking - ACOG Revises Opinion

2008-02-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

Washington, DC -- Physicians should give balanced information to their pregnant patients who are considering cord blood banking, presenting both the advantages and disadvantages of public vs. private cord blood banks, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in a revised Committee Opinion published today in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. ACOG also advises physicians who recruit patients for for-profit cord blood banking to disclose their financial interests or other potential conflicts of interest to pregnant women and their families.

Blood from a newborn's umbilical cord, once considered a waste product that was routinely discarded along with the placenta, is now considered to contain potentially life-saving stem cells. Private banks were initially developed to store cord blood stem cells from newborns, for a fee, for potential future use by the same child or a family member if he/she developed disease later in life. Today, there are public banks that store, for free, stem cells that can be used by anyone needing them similar to how public blood banks work.

"Patients need to be aware that the chances are remote that the stem cells from their baby's banked cord blood will be used to treat that same child—or another family member—in the future," said Anthony R. Gregg, MD, chair of ACOG's Committee on Genetics. ACOG's Committee Opinion is a joint document produced by the Committee on Obstetric Practice and the Committee on Genetics.

Although ACOG takes no position for or against cord blood banking, it recommends that physicians disclose that there is no reliable estimate of a child's likelihood of actually using his or her own saved cord blood later. Some experts estimate this likelihood at 1 in 2,700, while others argue the rate is even lower. Physicians should also disclose to their patients that it is unknown how long cord blood can successfully be stored.

Pregnant women should be aware that stem cells from cord blood cannot currently be used to treat inborn errors of metabolism or other genetic diseases in the same individual from which they were collected because the cord blood would have the same genetic mutation. "Cord blood collected from a newborn that later develops childhood leukemia cannot be used to treat that leukemia for much the same reason," said Dr. Gregg.

Federal legislation was passed in 2005 that provides funding for continued growth of a national cord blood registry in the US. Several states have laws requiring physicians to inform patients about cord blood banking options. Physicians should consult with their state medical association for more information about their individual state laws.

Committee Opinion #399, "Umbilical Cord Blood Banking," is published in the February 2008 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

# # #

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is the national medical organization representing over 52,000 members who provide health care for women.

Stem Cell Clinical Trials for Stroke & Cerebral Palsy

2008-02-01T11:02:00.000-08:00

via Science Daily

Two new federally funded studies are investigating the optimal dosage and timing for stem cell therapy in adults with strokes and newborns with ischemic injuries, which can result in cerebral palsy. The studies are currently using bone marrow stem cells in animal models, but lead researchers indicate that success during preliminary studies could lead to human clinical trials within two years.

If these additional laboratory studies replicate the promising results of the pilot studies, which indicate about a 25 percent improvement in recovery over controls, MCG and VA researchers hope to begin clinical trials in new ischemic injuries in adults and children within two years.

“We are looking at different procedures that we can adopt from the laboratory for the clinic,” Dr. Borlongan says. “We have at least 10 years of basic research that clearly shows that stem cells have the potential to be a new therapy for adult stroke.”

“This is a whole new paradigm, a totally different way of targeting disease,” says Dr. David Hess, chair of the MCG Department of Neurology and co-investigator. Clot buster tPA is the only drug that is FDA-approved to treat ischemic strokes; an often-delayed diagnosis and a three-hour treatment window mean only a small percentage of patients get it.

Drs. Hess and Borlongan say cell therapy could eventually be used alone or in conjunction with tPA, if recovery is not sufficient. Pilot studies indicate cell therapy can be of benefit up to seven days after a stroke but that two days out is the optimal time of delivery. “This will allow us to enroll patients who get tPA, give us plenty of time to assess them and prepare the cells,” says Dr. Borlongan.

Their success in an adult stroke model led the researchers to explore the potential for helping babies recover from hypoxic ischemia, a loss of blood and oxygen that can result in cerebral palsy, broadly defined as a brain injury that occurs before or during birth.

Stem Cells Aid Recovery of Myocardial Infarction (Mi)

2008-01-29T17:12:00.000-08:00

via Kansas City Infozine

A study in the Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology shows that administration of adult bone marrow stem cells (BMC) and mesenchymal stems cells (MSC) can aid in the recovery of of myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as heart attacks- and increase survival rates.

The study, called the "Systemic Delivery of Adult Stem cells Improves Cardiac Function in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats", is designed to evaluate the impact of systemic delivery of BMC and MSC on spontaneously hypertensive rats induced with MI.

The treatment with stem cells resulted in statistically different mortality rates - 0% for rats treated with BSC, 17% for rats treated with MSC and 45% for non-treated rats. Rats that were treated also showed significant recovery of heart function and capacity.