MORE parents should consider privately storing their child's cord blood, a procedure that costs at least $3000, to boost Australian research into stem cell treatments, a leading researcher says.
The head of research at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Dr Iona Novak, said a lack of privately banked cord blood was a hurdle to Australian research into regenerative treatments. Such clinical trials are already done in the US, where the percentage of parents paying to store cord blood is much higher.
Cord blood, which is extracted from the umbilical cord and placenta after birth, is a rich source of stem cells and could potentially treat a range of diseases and conditions. Some treatments, such as those proposed for cerebral palsy, require the patient's own cord blood.
''We know that, at the moment, there's about 40 children with cerebral palsy with their own blood banked in Australia, which is not that much to do a study with,'' Dr Novak said.
In Australia, cord blood can be stored privately, allowing for the child to be treated autologously - with their own blood. In the public system the pool of cord blood can be used by patients around the world. In NSW public banks have 25,000 units of blood, compared with 18,000 in private banks.
Associate Professor Mark Kirkland, from the private blood bank Cell Care, said the few privately banked samples in Australia meant research into autologous treatments could be made only with overseas collaboration. ''There's been a lot of negativity around the idea of storing your child's own cord blood because these are unproven treatments. But it's a catch-22 - you can't do the trials because you haven't stored your child's blood.''
The government-funded Australian cord blood bank, AusCord, does not provide cord blood for research unless it is unsuitable for clinical use.
But the chairwoman of AusCord, Ngaire Elwood, said it kept a ''very close eye'' on new applications for stem cell treatment.
Dr Elwood said the system was sufficient for uses approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, including transplants for leukaemia patients. ''For the next four years it's felt that we are generally meeting the needs of the Australian population.''
A gift to be shared among mothers
NATALIE LOPEZ donated her daughter Gabriela's cord blood to the public system after learning of the practice by chance at her first prenatal doctor's appointment.
''If anything was going to happen to Gabriela, then I would like to tap into that resource one day,'' said Mrs Lopez, of Beverly Hills.
The 34-year-old gave birth in April at St George Private Hospital, one of the NSW government's four designated collection centres for publicly donated cord blood.
The process was surprisingly difficult, despite being told her cord blood was of unusually high quality, she said. Mrs Lopez had to fill out several forms even while she was in labour.
Then, there was almost no one to collect the cord blood. ''The nurse actually came back after her shift was finished just to collect the blood. It's just so rare that … they get a good amount of blood.''
Whether a family decides to privately bank their baby's cord blood or not, they should ALWAYS donate publicly if the option is available. That donation could be the match needed to treat a young child or adult to give them a better quality of living or better yet, SAVE A PERSON'S LIFE!!! Just like Natalie Lopez said, "if anything was going to happen to Gabriela (her daughter), then I would like to tap into that resource one day." This sentence SPEAKS VOLUMES!!! If you do not decide to store privately and one day need a transplant of stem cells, you would want to tap into that resource as well. Get educated about cord blood banking and please donate if you decide not to privately bank your baby's cord blood. you never know what the future may hold....................MrCordBlood
No comments:
Post a Comment