TheWellnessLiving Health Tips

Use of stem cells from donated umbilical cord blood has been around for a while, but most people have been unaware about the chance of donate or preserve umbilical cord blood, probably due to the lack of public cord blood registries. But as the number of successful transplant cases increases, this simple and potentially life-saving treatment is getting slowly into the medical spotlight.

Nine-year-old Presley Nash, from Bowling Green, KY, received nine years ago a self transplant of cord blood with the hope of treating a rare genetic disorder that commonly results in premature death. Thanks to the stem cell transplant, Presley’s body was able to create an enzyme that it could not produce on its own. She is now disease-free life and does not require any further treatment. “I get to see all my teachers and friends and run and play,” Nash said

Martha Houchin is Nash’s grandmother and an O.B. teacher at the Bowling Green Medical Center. She became an active advocate and supporter of private cord blood banking. “Presley was close to death many times and I bargained and said I will educate the world about cord blood. She continued “cord blood transplants are also being used for… illnesses such as leukemia, Alzheimer’s and spinal cord injuries…[and] it takes a very small amount of blood from the umbilical cord to generate a whole new system in your body.”

Umbilical cord blood donation is very simple and painless. Parents-to-be can choose between free donation to a public registry for publis use, or make a private donation that allows access to their own stored cord blood in case of medical need.