What you didn't know about Stem Cell Banking

 I came across this article last week on Stem Cell banking. It’s one of those things I’ve known about for sometime and I really think it’s quite interesting. It’s really something that is worth knowing about and quite frankly perhaps if/when you can afford it and you are going through a life situation that may require you to maybe look into Stem Cell Banking. I studied biological sciences in my undergrad and stem cells were/are is seen as the “answer” to treat some illnesses that we currently don’t have a definite cure for. Anyway, let me share with you some little science and enlighten you on stem cell banking:

But first…the thing about stem cell banking is that it does not come cheap and I believe that Discovery is currently the only medical aid that has partnered with the 2 stem cell banking organizations that is able to be of assistance when it comes to cover or whatever insurance jargon they use.

So, what are cord stem cells?

Stems are cells that have the potential to specialize into various cells in the body, these cells can develop into either skin cells, blood cells, muscle, bones, nerves or cartilage. They are basically found where they continually repair tissue like the bone marrow.

Great, now what is cord stem cell banking?

It’s the process of collecting and storing the cells from umbilical cord blood and/or tissue during the childbirth process (more invasive if done at a later stage).

Remind me again why would I need to make use of stem cell banking?

This is one of the questions that some people do not even think about, but when you hear stories about people that are paying around R22 000 for this treatment in order to help their kids than you realize that yeah, just maybe…you should have considered. You are basically “insuring”, although I don’t like using that term but it’s the best way to explain it. Let me paint a picture, should your child be diagnosed with a life-threatening disease such as leukemia and anemia or a genetic disorder of some sort. Stem Cell banking offers you the option to treat the disease with those banked cells. You can at the later stage retrieve these cells from the stem bank and use those to treat the condition. Perhaps you have a sibling that could be treated with the stem cell transplant then stem cell banking is then an option. Here are some stories to read on – https://www.news24.com/amp/parent//pregnancy_journey/getting_ready/Stem-cell-storage-20150826

…So what’s the process of collecting umbilical cord blood or tissue?

You would need to register with the service provider, we currently have Nextbio and Cyrosave in South Africa. Obviously you would be registering during your pregnancy and then the organization you are registered with would deliver the kit. On the day that you give birth then the collection of the cord blood or tissue would be done by the Midwife or the Gynecologist and then that gets packaged and collected by the organization. Ultimately your samples are stored until you need to use them for a treatment. I stand corrected but the treatment of your baby’s cells can be used for immediate family only.

Cool, so what exactly are stem cells used to treat?

Stem cells are used in treat different disease areas such as leukemia, Lymphoma, Metabolic disorder and other cancers such as neuroblastoma and retinoblastoma.

Entlek entlek, who can use the banked cord stem cells?

Well, they are the perfect match for the owner, duh but interestingly there is a 1 in 4 chance that the stem cells will be suitable match for a sibling and for the parents it’s a 1 in 8 chance that they are a suitable match. It’s basically the immediate family. Also rather than having to suffer from a disease that requires a stem cell transplant having to wait on a Bone Marrow registry waiting for a donor and having to pay be 3x the cost had you stored the cells with an accredited stem cell bank and not wait in an registry.

…But there are currently clinical trials and studies with cord blood or cord tissue.

Science is about looking for solutions and problem-solving, so there are studies that are currently looking into using stem cells to treat Autism, stroke, Parkinson, hearing loss(acquired sensoneural), Spinal cord injury.) Auto-immune disorder ( Eczema, Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis) diabetes.

Unfortunately some of this information is normally not available to majority of the people in the country.  Commonly people that know about stem cells are either people that are interest in this field of study or people that go through the unfortunate life mishaps and find themselves having to look into this for treatment and by that time it’s already late as this would cost you almost an arm and a leg for the average  South African.