Introduction
The real trend in natural order is change that gives room for quest for solutions through discoveries and inventions. A good example is the change in thirst for a better mode of communication that gave birth to the internet and mobile phone technology. Another example is the change in health in terms of disease like leukemia. There isn’t anything in the world today that triggers an urgent need for solution than health. Everyday, doctors, scientist and concerned professionals battle to invent cure for one disease or the other. One of such is the case of Leukemia and blood immunity problems. The search for the treatment of these ailments brought scientist to the doorstep of the umbilical cord as a measure of combating health cases thus the need for cord blood bank. What is umbilical cord and what relevance has it in the treatment of diseases?
The function of the Umbilical Cord
The work of the Umbilical cord is to nourish the growing fetus in the mother’s womb. It can also be described as an intermediary connecting the child to the placenta. To enable the baby cord perform its functions, it is lined with blood vessels that serves these purposes. So, apart from acting as a connective tissue, it also protects the blood vessels.
The trend
Formerly, the umbilical cord was regarded as useless and therefore discarded after babies are born. But today, due to the ever increasing health challenges that triggers the need for treatment measures; the trend of discarding the cord as waste embraced another new trend and it is to use it as a treatment measures for ailments like Leukemia, etc. The baby cord possesses a good amount of Hematopoieteic stem cells that is capable of manufacturing blood cells like: white, red blood cells and platelets. According to March Dimes, the stem cell has been used to solve 70 cases of illness. The importance of the stem cell jolted the need of using cord; however, despite this fact, 90% of parents still maintain the old trend of disposing their baby’s cord. This, coupled with compatibility problems caused scarcity of blood cord. So in the face of high demand with prevalent scarcity, the trend has taken a new dimension prompting concerned parents to donate baby’s cord. The cord is then taken to where they are kept to serve a health condition purpose as in the case of the Umbilical cord transplant for the treatment of Leukemia in adults.
Conclusion
In conclusion, treatment of terminal cases like Leukemia is made possible with cord transplant hence the new trends in cord banking. To serve these cases, parents are urged to embrace the trend which is to donate their baby’s cord instead of throwing it away as waste. However, since it is a new trend getting more donors face very severe opposition especially in an environment where such things are seen as a taboo. To get through to this community, precautionary methods like education and creating awareness will go a long way to ensure adequate supply in cord banks.
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