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We Need To Fight—So Premature Babies Don’t Have To!
Monday, November 16th, 2009
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Did you know that the rate of premature birth has never been higher? And doctors, scientists, researchers and loving parents and families simply don’t understand what is going wrong.
Today, medical advances give even the tiniest babies a chance of survival—yet for many babies, premature birth is a life or death condition. In fact, it’s the #1 cause of death during the first month of life. And babies who survive face serious health challenges and risk lifelong disabilities.
ViaCord and PerkinElmer (ViaCord’s parent company) support the March of Dimes and their efforts to “fight for preemies”. The March of Dimes has organized a social event on November 17th to raise attention to this vital issue and over 300 bloggers have signed up to participate.
Our contribution to the discussion is on the topic of Pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is the most common form of dangerous prenatal complications, occurring in about 8-10% of all pregnancies. The condition can quickly become life-threatening for mother and baby, with delivery as the only treatment option—even if delivery is premature.
Categories: Trends in Healthcare
A Gift of Love, the Gift of Life: An Enduring Sibling Connection
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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It’s nearly impossible to understand how Traci and Kevin felt when they learned that their son, Nicholas, only 2 ½ years old, was diagnosed with leukemia. Doctors told Traci and Kevin that the best course of treatment for Nicholas was chemotherapy. In Nick’s case, doctors recommended a 2 ½ year course of chemotherapy—a harsh protocol with plenty of side effects, but it carried a good chance for a successful outcome. A stem cell transplant was reserved as an option if Nick relapsed.
But when Nick’s oncologist learned that Traci was expecting while Nick was still receiving chemotherapy, the oncologist urged her to bank the baby’s cord blood as a possible source of stem cells for Nick should he ever need a transplant. The oncologist told Traci about the Sibling Connection, a unique partnership between ViaCord and the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). The Sibling Connection provides ViaCord’s cord blood collection and storage for 5 years at no cost to expecting parents who have a child who may be in need of umbilical…
Categories: Family Matters
Marking an Important Milestone—150 Units Released!
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Every time a cord blood unit leaves ViaCord for use – it’s a meaningful event. It represents the hope and potential of providing treatment for a family’s loved one. Recently, ViaCord marked the release of the 150th unit for therapeutic use. Recognizing this milestone is significant for many reasons:
Nearly 80 treatable diseases and growing
Research has made incredible progress, uncovering new and effective treatments for disease and chronic illness using cord blood stem cells. In the last 20 years, the number of diseases that can be treated with cord blood has grown significantly. In 1988, only one condition was treatable. Today, cord blood stem cells have been used successfully in the treatment of nearly 80 life-threatening diseases, including cancers, blood disorders and immunodeficiencies.
Emerging therapies – offering great hope and future promise
There is increased demand for cord blood units as a result of emerging treatments for such illnesses as cerebral palsy (see Lillian’s story ) and Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. It is believed that as research continues to expand uses for cord blood stem cells (read the recent CNN report on heart disease),…
Categories: Did You Hear?, Inside ViaCord