Health
Is cord blood banking a worthwhile investment in your child’s future?
The umbilical cord — the lifeline between mother and baby — was historically discarded as medical waste after birth.
Today, an increasing number of parents are choosing to preserve the cord blood for its potential to safeguard their child’s future health.
The birth of a baby comes with an overwhelming number of decisions, one of which is whether to bank the newborn’s cord blood cells.
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Whether cord blood banking is worth it for a family hinges on various factors, including the present health of their child, the existence of twins in the family and many other individual considerations.
What is cord blood banking?
Cord blood banking involves the collection and storage of stem cells derived from the blood of a newborn’s umbilical cord immediately after birth.
The reason is its potential life-saving abilities, as the hematopoietic stem cells found in cord blood have the unique ability to differentiate into various types of blood cells.
There are two main types of banks for cord blood: public and private. (BSIP/UIG)
Preserving the cord blood cells provides an option for future therapeutic use in treating a range of diseases for the child or siblings.
These stem cells are less likely to face rejection during transplant due to their immature nature. This widens the blood cells’ applicability in medical procedures for the donor or family members.
Cord blood banking process
Cord blood banking can be done from either a vaginal or surgical birth, and regardless of whether the labor was induced or occurred naturally.
Once the parents decide to store the blood, the doctor will clamp the umbilical cord in two places and cut the cord, separating the mother from the child.
Once the blood has been collected and sealed, it will be sent to a cord blood bank for storage.
The doctor will inject a needle into the cord and collect, in general, between 60 and 300 milliliters (mL) of cord blood. The collected volume can vary, however, and not all collections will be sufficient for future therapeutic use for the child or siblings.
Once the blood has been collected and sealed, it will be sent to a cord blood bank for storage.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates cord blood banking and donation. (Education Images/Universal Images Group )
Collecting fluid in this process is relatively easy and does not cause pain to the mother or baby, according to webmd.com.
The collection process generally takes around five minutes to complete.
The blood can be stored at several different sites, based on the family’s decisions and circumstances.
- Public cord banks. These are free to use, but donations made are available to anyone.
- Private cord banks. These blood banks will store the blood for use only by the donor and family members of the donor. This can be an expensive option as there is a processing fee and an annual storage fee.
- Direct-donation banks. These are a mixture of public and private banks. They store cord blood for public use but also accept donations to reserve the stem cells for the child.
Cord blood is collected immediately after birth in a painless process that does not harm the mother or the baby. (BSIP/Universal Images Group)
When discussing the options, cord blood banking often refers to private banking, while cord blood donation generally refers to public banking.
Private cord banking may not be worth the financial expense for the family, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The reason is that the price is steep for the chance that the child will need to use the blood at some point in time.
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These organizations suggest that routine storage of cord blood for stem cells as a sort of insurance is unproven, and therefore they caution parents when considering it.
Donating to a public storage bank could benefit the community, however, according to these organizations.
There is usually no cost to donate cord blood to a public bank, but private banking can be pricey, involving initial collection fees and annual storage fees. (BSIP/UIG)
What are the uses of cord blood banking?
Cord blood banking can be beneficial because the stem cells are hematopoietic stem cells, meaning they are immature but can become mature cells of different types within the body.
Not only do they require less matching, they also cause fewer infections.
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The stem cells within the umbilical cord can provide life-saving assistance for several conditions later in life.
Stem cells from the umbilical cord can treat a variety of conditions, including:
- Cancer
- Anemia
- Immune system disorders
Once the cord blood is collected and stored, it can remain viable for a long time. Research suggests that cord blood can be stored for at least 10 years but often much longer. (QAI Publishing/Universal Images Group )
A benefit of using cord blood stem cells is that they rarely result in infectious diseases.
They are also highly effective as they are half as likely to be rejected compared to other stem cells because they are immunogenic due to their immature nature.
What are the cons of cord blood banking?
There is only about an 8% usage rate of blood that has been stored through this process, according to a study cited by the National Library of Medicine.
Part of the reason for the low rate is that the blood is not always useful for a disease that develops later on in life.
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Many factors go into whether cord blood can be used, such as from a set of twins when one twin is healthy and the other is born with a genetic disorder.
The blood drawn from the ill child can not be used later on for the healthy child, but the reverse could be true if the blood is a good match.
Patients are more likely to find a genetic match among donors of their own ethnic background. (BSIP/Universal Images Group)
There are many circumstances that the American Academy of Pediatrics lays out as not ideal conditions for cord blood banking.
Identical twins are not often the best match for each other because a slight genetic difference in the blood cells is recommended.
Additionally, public blood banks can only accept donations from umbilical cords from a mother carrying a single child. This is due to the possibility that the blood units could get mixed up during the collection with twins.
Another downside of using cord blood cells is that it takes longer for them to create the therapeutic effect desired because they are hematopoietic stem cells.
How much does cord blood banking cost?
Typically, there are two separate fees involved when preserving a child’s cord blood cells, according to the American Pregnancy Association. The initial fee covers the enrollment and collection.
Then, there is an annual storage fee.
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Those who go this route can expect to pay in the range of $1,350 and $2,350 for the initial collection, testing and registering, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Annual storage fees often range from $100 to $175, but the costs of individual storage banks will vary.
Currently, research into cord blood stem cells is ongoing. Scientists are investigating the potential for treating conditions such as cerebral palsy and Type 1 diabetes. (iStock)
If the parents donate the blood cells from the umbilical cord, there is no cost.
The future of cord blood banking
The future trajectory of cord blood banking remains uncertain. Nonetheless, preserving cord blood cells today may have significant health benefits, offering new avenues for disease treatment as the field advances.
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Considering the first successful umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant was performed as recently as 1988, as documented by the National Library of Medicine, the science around this practice is relatively young.
With ongoing research, the scope and efficacy of cord blood use are bound to expand.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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