When Zachary Melancon was born on Dec. 15, his parents took out a biological insurance policy of sorts that is becoming increasingly popular.
They had his umbilical cord tissue and blood deposited to a private cord blood bank for possible future uses.
“It’s sort of an insurance policy on health,” said Tanya Melancon holding her new son.
Zachary’s father, David Melancon, agreed.
“You never know what can happen,” he said.
The couple, David a pharmacist and Tanya an account manager, have been married for three years. They researched the issue and planned on saving their child’s cord blood even before he was conceived.
Both of their families have diabetes, and though cord blood won’t help the couple or their son if they develop the illness right now, research into the possible uses of cord blood is ongoing.
“There’s not a lot of uses for it right now,” said Dr. Michelle Hughes, an obstetrician/ gynecologist who delivered Zachary at Charlton Memorial Hospital.
Cord blood has been lauded for its life saving potential and because it lacks the ethical and religious controversy that has plagued embryonic stem cell research.
Those who oppose the research believe that destroying an embryo is akin to ending a life. Those who believe in the research see it as a means to curing many of the world’s most deadly diseases.
Hughes said umbilical cord blood is a “good source of stem cells” that is readily available and an exact match to the child, and a possible match to siblings. About six to eight of her patients each year decide to store their child’s stem cells for the future.
Stem cells may hold the potential for curing diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, some cancers, cerebral palsy and other serious illnesses.
“That area of medicine is expanding so quickly,” Hughes said. “(Stem cells) have the ability to become anything. There’ve been remarkable breakthroughs.”
Scientists have experimented with growing new tissue in rats.
When cord blood is collected, generally about two cups, it is the stem cells that are the important component.
Stem cells have the ability to become many other different types of cells, such as brain cells or red blood cells. They are renewed through cell division.
Cord blood is taken from the umbilical cord and placenta after the baby is born and is frozen. It is stored in cord blood banks, in this case at ViaCord in Indiana.
Cord blood banks can be public or private. The Melancons chose to store their baby’s cord blood in a private bank for the baby and family’s potential use. Public cord blood banks create a registry for people who need bone marrow transplants. Typically, bone marrow is harvested from living matching donors and can be painful with possible complications.
There is no cost associated with public cord blood banking, as there is in private banking.
The Melancons paid $7,000 to store their son’s cord blood for 25 years. When it is time to make the decision whether to continue to bank the blood, David Melancon laughed and said, “the next payment is his.”
Though some may consider private cord blood banking expensive, the Melancons said they felt they had to do it if it had the potential to save their son’s life one day.
“Hopefully, we never have to use it, but if we do ...,” said David Melancon. “If we need it, you can’t put a price tag on it.”
Email Deborah Allard at
dallard@heraldnews.com
Great Article, no comments needed other than Reader's Enjoy....................MrCordBlood
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