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Dallas Hextell Foundation 2009 for video click Picture
Brain injury, Spinal Cord Damage and Cerebral Palsy are demonstrating success with patients own stem cells. Research for AIDS, MS and Sickle cell using donor cells are increasing. Public and Private cell banking facilities demand a choice, share with others or keep your own for a time of need?
Mary Carmichael of Newsweek did a compelling interview with a couple whose young son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and the doctor who conducted the experimental treatment. She outlines the medicine for profit aspect of stemcell storage. The pathos of the doctors comments that he may have gotten better anyway and the soft sell for public banking yet raise interesting points. My children are adults but even in the early years their cord blood was collected and donated for research.
The Hextell’s featured in the video above tried to conceive for three years and finally with invitro fertilization succeeded. Little Dallas was born wanted and celebrated into a medicine savvy family who banked his own cord blood cells. Dallas was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and became one of the privileged children chosen for research at Duke university. If my children had Cerebral Palsy they could not have enjoyed this benefit because the cells were given for others and presonal access was unavailable. I would propose a two tier system where cells could be banked for public use but accessed in case of physical need by the donor providing cells were still available.
This is the way we prepared for my husbands bilateral hip replacement. We arranged to have blood taken in advance and then agreed if it was not needed it would go into the public bank. It turns out he needed his blood and then some which made me feel the power of the donations of all the blood and platelets we have supplied over the years as a family. Some conditions require more cells than the cord blood can grow and others have genetic variables that would make using someone else’s cord cells more viable.
I am blogging on this because I recieve requests from parents asking if they should take their children to China in hope of a cure. Research in the USA and from animals studies show about a 30% improvement rate. Opponents and researchers agree that only 1-2% of the cells get to the brain when delivered intravenously, however it may be other components in the cell that are acting to faciliate repair and recovery. I will blog an answer from my perspective in a future blog
For this post here are some links on cord banking
Parent’s Giude to Cord Banking
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