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Cord Blood An Insurance...
To put your childs' cord blood in a cord bank could be the best insurance policy you ever take out and it can be cheaper than house insurance!!
To Marti and Jim Bailey, the decision to bank their daughters' umbilical cord blood was easier to make than the decision to buy homeowners insurance.
Marti and Jim Bailey added: "When you sit back and you think about
the potential for childhood leukemia and all these blood disorders that are
out there, it was one simple thing that we could do to try and insure our
kids' health and welfare," By saving their daughters’ cord blood
it was the best insurance policy they every made.
Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC has formed an exploratory committee to determine
how to inform pregnant women about umbilical cord blood banking and the possibility
of creating a public cord-blood bank in Western Pennsylvania. Allegheny General
Hospital doctors are also examining both issues.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is expected to consider a bill in the next
few weeks that would require health care providers to educate pregnant women
about umbilical cord-blood banking. Researchers say they believe stem cells in
the blood have the potential to treat almost 80 diseases.
"The science is getting to the point that this is a very valuable resource
that we need to be using," said Dr. Dennis English, vice president of medical
affairs at Magee. "Our goal is to really proceed along the lines of
evaluating whether a public cord blood bank would be best for our region
or if we should collaborate with a public banking system in another state."
Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after
birth. It is rich in stem cells, which can be coaxed into growing into many different
types of tissue or blood cells. Cord blood has successfully been used to treat
diseases such as leukemia, and researchers say they believe it has potential
to treat other diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
However, the odds are very slim -- estimates range from 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 20,000
-- that a child would need his or her cord blood before age 20. Some cord- blood
banks estimate that with scientific advancements that could occur in the next
several decades, the chances are as high as 1 in 7 that a person born today would
use his or her cord blood at some point.
With the cost of collecting cord blood at almost $2,000 and annual storage fees
of about $100, some doctors are wary of suggesting that their patients pay the
fees for something they may never need.
"I think cord-blood banking is a wonderful idea -- if you donate to a common
good," said Dr. Richard Shadduck, director of the Western Pennsylvania Cancer
Institute. "Paying a commercial outfit to extract and store it for private
use is very expensive and unlikely to pay off."
With private umbilical cord blood banking, a mother pays a private company to
collect and store her baby's umbilical cord blood. The blood is saved for use
by the family should the child or a sibling have a disease that could be treated
with it. There are at least two dozen private banks nationally.
A public cord bank operate through donations. When a person needs cord blood,
the public bank searches its donations for the best match, much the way organ
donation databases work. The donation process doesn't cost the family giving
the blood anything, but there is no guarantee that family would get cord blood
back if a member needed it. There are about a dozen public banks in the U.S.
Dr. Eugene Scioscia, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at
Allegheny General, is an outspoken proponent of cord blood banking.
"I inform every expectant mother that this is an option," he said. "However,
it is very costly. Consequently, since the benefits are largely only theoretical,
few patients take advantage of it."
Scioscia supports the idea of a public cord blood bank for Pennsylvania, saying
it should work much like a regular blood bank. Over the life span of a child
born today, science is likely to advance so that now-theoretical uses of cord
blood stem cells become reality, he said.
Highmark Inc. has worked out a deal with CorCell, a Philadelphia-based private
cord blood bank, to give members a $350 discount on cord blood collection. Dr.
Carey Vinson, vice president of quality and medical performance management at
Highmark, said the company has not seen any evidence that cord-blood banking
will save money in treating diseases.
"I don't think anybody can claim potential cost savings -- it's too early,
too few patients have used this new technology," Vinson said. "We
just felt that it is now acceptable because (CorCell) is a good, legitimate,
well-run program that we could offer to our members."
The Baileys considered the cost before using CorCell to bank the cord blood of
their daughters, Reagan, 2, and Georgia Mae, 10 months. Neither girl is predisposed
to any diseases that could be helped by stem cells.
"We talked about the cost a lot before we decided to do it, and my husband's
response to me was, 'Honey, it's just money,' " said Marti Bailey. "In
the grand scheme of things, I pay more for my home insurance, and my chances
of my house burning down are also very slim."
NOTE: This web site is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice. The information provided through this site should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, you should consult your health care provider