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Cord Blood May Help Transplant Patients
By Tammy Anderson
Pacific Sunday News
Pacific Daily News, Hagatna
07 August 2005
Insurance, in the form of cryogenically frozen blood from an umbilical cord, is now an available option for more people on Guam.
Dr. Thomas Shieh made a presentation to a crowd during the 3rd annual Breastfeeding Fair at the Agana Shopping Center yesterday, explaining cord blood can now be saved and guaranteed to reach freezers in California with the help of the Cord Blood Registry, Continental Micronesia and Guam Courier Express.
The blood, which has to be taken from the umbilical cord within 15 minutes of a birth, carries stem cells. Stem cells can create tissues and if they are frozen after birth, it is possible to use the stem cells 15 years later.
Throughout storage time, cord blood can provide an essential part of a cure for many patients.
Bone marrow transplant recipients, Shieh said, reject their donation 42 percent of the time. Cord blood recipients reject their donation a mere 3 percent of the time.
"Because it is your own genes," he explained to the crowd, "when you transfer it into your body, it accepts it more."
Stem cells in cord blood, Shieh explained, may also be the key to unlocking the mysteries of many different illnesses including Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer or heart disease.
"Cord blood is sort of an insurance policy for the future," Shieh said.
"We have done 38 transfusions with two more on the way," H. Gustaf Trapp, inside sales director at the Cord Blood Registry said.
The company, where cord blood from Guam would be sent, is located in California and operates liquid nitrogen freezers that chill the blood to -196 degrees Celsius.
Storing the blood with a public bank, Shieh said, costs between $15,000 to $22,500. With a private company, he added, storage could cost between $700 to $1,800 with an additional yearly storage fee.
An expectant mother, Tanisha Franquez of Mangilao, said cord blood may be a viable option for her when she gives birth in two weeks.
"It's an amazing procedure," she said. She is currently looking into the possibility of storing cord blood but financial constraints may be an issue.
Cord blood and health-care issues were just a few of the topics discussed at the fair Franquez helped organize. The purpose of the presentations and 23 information booths was to promote good health care, she said.
"This is a health-care-for-all event because health overall is very important," she said.
AT A GLANCE
Cord Blood Donations
Cord blood is leftover blood in the umbilical cord and placenta after birth.
The stem cells in cord blood can be used to cure certain diseases from leukemia to immune system disorders.
After the blood is collected from the umbilical cord with a syringe, it is tested and frozen at -196 degrees Celsius.
When the blood is thawed and transfused into a patient, the stem cells in the blood migrate to the patient's bone marrow and begin making new blood cells.
The odds that a child will need a cord blood transfusion before the age of 21 are one to 2,700.
A bone marrow recipient has a 29 percent chance of survival versus the 63 percent chance of survival with a cord blood donation.
Dr. Thomas Shieh and the Cord Blood Registry
ON THE NET
Cord Blood Registry: www.cordblood.com
Ric A. Eusebio/Pacific Sunday News/reusebio@guampdn.com
`Insurance policy': Dr. Thomas Shieh, a local obstetrician/gynecologist, looks to a projection screen as he gives a presentation to a group of people on the topic of umbilical cord blood banking yesterday. Shieh gave the special presentation during the 3rd annual Breastfeeding Fair at the Agana Shopping Center. |
