Viacord

Ever wish someone could explain to you in 30 seconds how umbilical cord blood stem cells are collected? Does hearing stories of ViaCord families inspire you to let friends and family know about the option of stem cell preservation? Would it be helpful to hear an OB’s perspective on cord blood banking?  Well now you can watch, learn and be inspired all in one place – on ViaCord’s YouTube Channel!

Bringing ViaCord families and information to your home
With over 4 million people connecting and auto-sharing via social networks,¹YouTube is a great way to help spread awareness about the importance of cord blood and cord tissue banking, and the work that we do at ViaCord.

Holidays are a great time for us to connect with our ViaCord families, especially on spooktacular days like Halloween! Trick-or-treating will be starting soon, and that means ghouls and goblins will be lining the streets to fill their bags with candy. Kids love costumes and dressing up—but it’s important to remember safety when they head out. Consider these tips for to ensure you have the most spook-tastic and safe Halloween ever!

 Monsters and princesses should always travel in packs.
Kids should never go trick-or-treating alone. Get a group of kids together to go out hunting for candy together. They can even coordinate their costumes. And make sure your little ones have flashlights, glowsticks or reflector tape as part of their costumes. You can even get creative with the tape and make scary faces.

• Test the spooks before the big day.
  Costumes are designed for all different shapes and sizes. It’s important that the costume fits correctly to avoid any real scares on this candy holiday. And that includes makeup. Try the makeup on a small area of skin to make sure there aren’t any reactions.

 Put…

For the millions of people around the world who suffer from incurable diseases and injury, Stem Cell Awareness Day is a day to celebrate the scientific advances made to-date and be hopeful of what is yet to come, according to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) . And we’d have to say, we agree.

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood have been used in nearly 20,000 transplants worldwide during the last 20 years to help treat nearly 80 diseases.  And clinical trials, in the area of regenerative medicine, are now being conducted to determine whether a child’s own cord blood stem cells may be used to treat cerebral palsy and Type 1 Diabetes.  Read more about the trials in a previous blog post.

Despite all the great news about cord blood stem cells and the hope that they provide for the future, there still exists a critical education gap. According to a study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine  nearly 75% of expectant mothers in the study considered themselves “minimally informed” when it comes to cord blood banking.

Today, stem cells are primarily used in the treatment of disease and in tissue regeneration. They largely come from one of three sources – cord blood, bone marrow and peripheral blood. At ViaCord, we’re dedicated to storing cord blood stem cells for families for potential medical use. We’re also dedicated to keeping you up to date with the latest related research.  That is why we’d like to tell you about a study recently posted by the American Heart Association (AHA), which shows that patients who experience chronic chest pain may find relief with bone marrow stem cell treatment. Although the source of stem cells used in this study was bone marrow, we think it’s valuable to monitor advancement in bone marrow stem cell applications because of its potential to carry over to cord blood science someday …. especially because the study specifically looked at CD34+ cells which are also found in cord blood.

Promising results help scientists move forward
Approximately 850,000 people in the United States have refractory angina. This condition causes untreatable chest pain and can make exercise nearly intolerable.

The Intramyocardial, Autologous CD34+ Cell…

One look at our blog and it’s easy to see we like to talk about cord blood and its valuable stem cells. As a cord blood bank it makes sense, but we also see the transforming power cord blood stem cells can have on a life so we know the importance of generating awareness on the topic. That’s why we’re happy to thank the National Health Information Center (NHIC) for dedicating the whole month of July to cord blood awareness. Educating expectant parents and others about the value of cord blood stem cells may help keep this precious resource from being thrown away as medical waste. If you’d like to spread the word or find out more yourself, here’s a quick primer:

The basics
Today, stem cells are mainly used in the treatment of disease and in tissue regeneration. They largely come from one of three sources – cord blood, bone marrow and peripheral blood. Cord blood stem cells are found in the blood of the umbilical cord. With their instant availability at birth and demonstrated utility, cord blood is quickly becoming…