如何治疗癌症、免疫失调、心血管疾病和肌营养不良？
Thousands of New Parents Are Banking on the Future of Stem Cells
SAN BRUNO, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of one of the most exciting years in scientific advances, Cord Blood Registry, the nation’s largest family bank of umbilical cord blood stem cells, announced today that its registry has grown to over 18,000 units.
Stem cells were the top science story of 1999 and researchers have recently discovered that stem cells, like those found in cord blood and bone marrow, can be "coaxed" into becoming other types of cells. Unlike mature cells, which cannot change their destiny, it appears that stem cells can renew themselves and create new cells of whatever tissue they belong to.
, 百拇医药
Cord blood, which is usually thrown away with the placenta after the umbilical cord has been cut, is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, the "mother" cells that reproduce and create the human blood and immune system. Now, families can collect and freeze these cells for potential future use in treating a variety of diseases ... and it is catching on.
The Internet has been a great help in educating new parents about the benefits of collecting and cryopreserving their newborns’ cord blood stem cells," according to Stephen Grant, vice president and co-founder of the Registry. "Stem cells are a reasonably complex area of science, and the web enables us to educate new parents easily."
, 百拇医药
Since 1988, doctors have been using umbilical cord blood stem cells as an alternative to bone marrow to treat a variety of cancers and serious illnesses.
Recently, Japanese researchers announced they had isolated certain types of cells found in umbilical cord blood, called "progenitor epithelial cells," that may one day enable heart patients to "grow" their own bypasses instead of having surgical vein grafts. The cells form the lining of blood vessels and result in a process known as angiogenesis.
, http://www.100md.com
And the development of promising treatments for muscular dystrophy, a disease that affects some 250,000 Americans, was boosted when biologists at Boston Children’s Hospital announced they had turned hematopoietic stem cells, like those found in cord blood, into muscle cells. Leaders of the Muscular Dystrophy Association said that this discovery promises the greatest hope they’ve ever had for treatment.
These new experiments are encouraging because the stem cells are the patient’s own and do not carry the risk of rejection, a common problem in transplantation medicine.
, 百拇医药
Dr. Kathleen Edmunds, an OB/Gyn in Knoxville, TN, who banked her son’s cord blood stem cells at Cord Blood Registry, said, "We did it two years ago, and there are so many things now it promises to help. I guess I’d say I just saw the potential and thought it was worth it."
It costs a little over a thousand dollars to collect, process and freeze the stem cells, and there is an annual fee of $95 for maintenance. Collection of cord blood can take place at any hospital or birthing center; the procedure takes about five minutes and poses no risk to mother or baby., 百拇医药
SAN BRUNO, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of one of the most exciting years in scientific advances, Cord Blood Registry, the nation’s largest family bank of umbilical cord blood stem cells, announced today that its registry has grown to over 18,000 units.
Stem cells were the top science story of 1999 and researchers have recently discovered that stem cells, like those found in cord blood and bone marrow, can be "coaxed" into becoming other types of cells. Unlike mature cells, which cannot change their destiny, it appears that stem cells can renew themselves and create new cells of whatever tissue they belong to.
, 百拇医药
Cord blood, which is usually thrown away with the placenta after the umbilical cord has been cut, is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, the "mother" cells that reproduce and create the human blood and immune system. Now, families can collect and freeze these cells for potential future use in treating a variety of diseases ... and it is catching on.
The Internet has been a great help in educating new parents about the benefits of collecting and cryopreserving their newborns’ cord blood stem cells," according to Stephen Grant, vice president and co-founder of the Registry. "Stem cells are a reasonably complex area of science, and the web enables us to educate new parents easily."
, 百拇医药
Since 1988, doctors have been using umbilical cord blood stem cells as an alternative to bone marrow to treat a variety of cancers and serious illnesses.
Recently, Japanese researchers announced they had isolated certain types of cells found in umbilical cord blood, called "progenitor epithelial cells," that may one day enable heart patients to "grow" their own bypasses instead of having surgical vein grafts. The cells form the lining of blood vessels and result in a process known as angiogenesis.
, http://www.100md.com
And the development of promising treatments for muscular dystrophy, a disease that affects some 250,000 Americans, was boosted when biologists at Boston Children’s Hospital announced they had turned hematopoietic stem cells, like those found in cord blood, into muscle cells. Leaders of the Muscular Dystrophy Association said that this discovery promises the greatest hope they’ve ever had for treatment.
These new experiments are encouraging because the stem cells are the patient’s own and do not carry the risk of rejection, a common problem in transplantation medicine.
, 百拇医药
Dr. Kathleen Edmunds, an OB/Gyn in Knoxville, TN, who banked her son’s cord blood stem cells at Cord Blood Registry, said, "We did it two years ago, and there are so many things now it promises to help. I guess I’d say I just saw the potential and thought it was worth it."
It costs a little over a thousand dollars to collect, process and freeze the stem cells, and there is an annual fee of $95 for maintenance. Collection of cord blood can take place at any hospital or birthing center; the procedure takes about five minutes and poses no risk to mother or baby., 百拇医药