7 Benefits of Preserving Stem Cells

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7 Benefits of Preserving Stem Cells
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Embryonic Stem Cells

• These stem cells are drawn from embryos that are
  by-products of clinical fertilisation. Many
  scientific and religious bodies have voiced that
  an embryo has the potential for new live, and
  that this potential begins at the point of
  conception. So, rightly speaking, the foetus
  holds human rights throughout its multiple stages
  of development.

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Cord Blood Stem Cells

• Due to the various concerns voiced in the use of
  embryonic stem cells by ethical commissions and
  societies across the world, there was a need for
  a new source of potential stem cells, in order to
  advance in the implications on stem cell therapy.
  This drove the study of biomedicine to explore
  cord blood stem cells. It was seen that cord
  blood derived embryonic stem cells had the rare
  characteristic of versatility.

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Let us explore the benefits of preserving stem
cells

• It can save Life
• Umbilical cord blood is an extremely rich source
  of stem cells that are used to treat more than 80
  life threatening diseases and disorders
  including cancer, blood disorders, immune system
  disorders, and genetic diseases. Stem cells can
  also rebuild the immune system after chemotherapy
  and be used as an alternative to a bone marrow
  transplant.

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Let us explore the benefits of preserving stem
cells

• 2. Cord blood stem cells will always be a perfect
  match for your baby
• There are no ifs or buts about this.
• Stem cells can help to repair or rebuild injured
  or damaged cells for your child and potentially
  other family members too.

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Let us explore the benefits of preserving stem
cells

• 3. Cord blood stem cells have potential
  sibling/family use
• Theres a 14 (25) chance of being a perfect
  match for a sibling. With cord blood transplants,
  it is however not always necessary to have a
  perfect match and, depending, for example, on the
  number of stem cells in the collection, a lesser
  match may be acceptable.

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Let us explore the benefits of preserving stem
cells

• 4. Stem cell research is revealing exciting
  future uses
• Science is progressing every day. There are
  already a number of clinical trials which are
  being undertaken with umbilical cord blood and
  cord tissue stem cells these include clinical
  trials for blood disorders, as well as for
  neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy,
  autism, stroke, anoxic and traumatic brain
  injury, for diabetes and, for example, for muscle
  repair and arthritis.

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Let us explore the benefits of preserving stem
cells

• 5. Umbilical cord stem cells have greater
  therapeutic potential
• The umbilical cord blood stem cells are also more
  immunologically naïve than bone marrow stem
  cells as they have not been exposed to outside
  immune stimulation (such as infections). In
  allogeneic transplants (such as between siblings)
  they are less likely to cause the
  transplant-related complication of
  graft-versus-host disease.

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Let us explore the benefits of preserving stem
cells

• 6. You can store your babys stem cells for 20
  years or more
• Stem cells are stored in special
  cryo-preservation bags which are overwrapped and
  placed, individually, in aluminium protective
  cases. Each sample is labelled with a unique
  identifying code and stored, in a
  cryo-preservation tank, in the vapour phase of
  liquid nitrogen (at approximately minus 196c).
  Evidence shows that after 23 years of
  preservation at these world-class standards, stem
  cells are still healthy and good to use.

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Let us explore the benefits of preserving stem
cells

• 7. You have an option of storing your babys stem
  cells locally or internationally
• The use of stem cells to treat injury or
  disorders by introducing healthy cells to damaged
  tissues has been considered a medical
  breakthrough and nowadays it has become the best
  possible treatment for a wide range of diseases.
  These include the treatment of some deadly
  diseases whose cure are not being discovered yet.
  So, before getting too late let us save the
  umbilical cord and preserve it for further use.

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The Ethics of Stem Cell Therapy

• When stem cell therapy and research first
  started, most clinical trials used stem cells
  drawn from human bone marrow for the purposes of
  medical discoveries, to deal with a variety of
  ailments ranging from injury, terminal illnesses,
  anemia and immune system disorders, to name a
  few.  These cells have been used for many years
  in a range of treatments and the ethical debate
  only started when embryonic stem cells were used
  in research and clinical trials.

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References

• https//www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/7-benefits-pres
  erving-stem-cells/
• https//www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/the-ethics-of-s
  tem-cell-therapy/