Stem Cells and Cerebral Palsy ( CP )

Have you ever seen the ads for  banking your baby's cord blood or donating it? I know I have and have thought about it. We all have a tendancy to think I won't ever need that but after past events in our lives watching on and seeing others face things they never could have dreamed of you sure have to think twice about a lot of things in your life.

Last week while watching Ch10 news I heard a remarkable story about a little boy Dallas Hextell who had CP but once treated with his own stem cells has made a remarkable improvement.   Dallas was not diagnosed till he was 8months old when his family change peads. His family had made the choice when pregnant to keep their son's cord blood because his fathers family had a family history of heart disease and his mum had been adopted so there were unsure of family history. Until Dallas had the stem cells he could not walk, wave, talk or crawl and he was 18months of age. It is reported that within five days, a different child emerged — laughing, clapping, waving and reacting. After having an amazing 191 million steam cells infused in around 1 hour this may cure him of CP by the age of 7 years.  His family still have 15 million steam cells left so in the event that he did need to use that later in life they still have this available. It cost the family $2000 US dollars to bank their son's cord blood and an additional $120 a year for storage.

Princess Mary’s Insurance Policy for Baby Prince

When Princess Mary gave birth, she took the once in a lifetime opportunity to collect and store the cord blood stem cells from her baby prince.

Immediately following his birth, the medical team at the Copenhagen University Hospital collected the cord blood from the baby royal. Crown Prince Fredrik's chamberlain Per Thornit has revealed that the state hospital had been entrusted to collect and store the young prince’s cord blood.

While it is hoped that they will never have to use them, the knowledge that they are immediately available for Christian Valdemar Henri John gives peace of mind to the young royals.

Scientists have discovered that cord blood found in the umbilical cord and placenta after childbirth is a rich source of blood forming cells that can be used instead of bone marrow transplants in children.

A cord blood transplant can also offer a greater chance of matching with less risk of infection.

The placenta and umbilical cord and the blood in it have no function after the baby is born and are normally discarded. Therefore, collecting the cord blood after a baby is born and after the cord is cut does not affect the mother or the baby in any way. Once this valuable cord blood is collected it can be taken to the laboratory for freezing and storage until it is needed for a life saving transplant.

The BMDI Cord Blood Bank is an affiliate of AusCord and sponsored by Ronald McDonald Charities.

source bmdi

Cryosite is an Australian public listed company, established in 2000 with the specific objective of providing specialized services to a wide range of clients including the research, medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

In 2001, Cryosite launched the first private cord blood service in Australia and is the only service in Australia to have an unrestricted licence from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for the collection, processing, testing, storage and release of cord blood. To date, more than 600 obstetricians have participated in collecting cord blood for our clients at more than 250 hospitals and birthing centers throughout Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Noumea, and Japan. We have successfully collected cord blood from every state in Australia.

In 2002 Cryosite expanded its range of services to include the provision of clinical trial logistics services to pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations. Outsourcing the management of clinical trial supplies and samples plays a particularly effective role in clinical development and allows clinical research organizations, doctors and researchers to focus their resources on other key aspects of trial management and development. This is particularly beneficial as clinical trials become more complex and costly. Our blue chip client profile recognise the benefits of working with a customer orientated company and some of our clients include Pfizer (Australia) Pty, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pty Ltd, Schering-Plough, Johnson & Johnson Research Pty Ltd and St Vincent’s Hospital (Sydney).

In 2004 Cryosite entered a collaboration with the Centre for Blood Therapies at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute (Peter Mac) in Melbourne, Vic. The Peter Mac is one of the world’s largest groups dedicated to cancer treatment and research and their range of services includes the collection, processing and cryopreservation of adult blood stem cells which are then stored until they are required for infusion.

This collaboration with Cryosite is part of an innovative approach taken by the Peter Mac to provide patients who are about to undergo high dose chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer, to have their blood stem cells collected and stored for potential therapeutic use in the future. As chemotherapy inhibits the ability of the bone marrow to make new blood cells, stem cells which have been stored prior to treatment can be used to restore normal bone marrow function. Cryosite provides the specialist cryogenic shipping and storage services that are required for the long-term storage of the blood stem cells.

Operations are carried out in a state-of-the-art 800m2 NATA accredited (ISO/IEC 17025) facility, that operates to World’s Best Practice and GMP standards. The facility is AQIS approved under section 46a of the Quarantine Act for the quarantine of class 5.1 goods. The facility is secured and monitored 24 hours a day and provides clients with a range of storage conditions and options including ambient (18-25°C), refrigerator (2-8°C), frozen (-20 to -80°C) and cryogenic (liquid nitrogen). Our Quality standards ensure compliance with all necessary regulatory requirements.

11:13 PM - Monday 24 March 2008 - post comment