Top 20 Cord Blood Banking Pros and Cons

In case of medical complications, provision of stem cells from a child could be a source of medical assistance to siblings, parents or any other family member, due to inheritance similarities.

• It is advisable to parents who afford to sustain the cost of the procedure, to go for cord blood banking as it can provide medical relief to any family member in suffering.

The procedure of collecting blood from the cord of a newly born baby is entirely non-technical and pain-free for the mother as well as the juvenile infant.

• The cord which is the main channel linking mother to the developing life provides nutrients and source of removal of toxic wastes from the baby through the mother.
• After birth, before clamping the cord , it is cut about 10 inches apart, and blood is withdrawn into a bag or otherwise through a syringe.
• Both the procedures are pain-free methods for baby and the mother.

The banking of cord blood is a risk-free procedure for the baby and the mother.

• Usually, the cord is folded and clamped after birth. It dries off a few weeks after birth. The blood is withdrawn from the cord after the baby gets delivered.
• The method does not give any post-procedure threat to mother or infant baby and holds total hazard free guarantee.

The banking of cord blood provides safe and effective options to parents for saving their child’s health prospects.

• The process is regarded as similar to the health insurance of children. Due to the similarity in the genetic makeup of siblings and closely related family members, the saving of cord blood gives a safe choice to deal with any unhealthy future concerns.
• The process of saving stem cells holds 100% chance of matching with the same individual and 75% chance of similarity among the siblings.

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) appreciates couples to go for banking cord blood, even if they are not interested in the personalized usage of the miraculous blood.

• Due to increased chances of acceptance of stem cells into the foreign body, the donor blood could prove to be an extraordinary relief to many sufferers.
• The donation of cord blood to public banks is motivated by FDA as it can serve as an excellent transplantation option in many recipient patients.

The stem cells from cord blood hold the uplift advantage of greater acceptability, decreased rejection and mismatching concerns than bone marrow stem cells.

• The stem cells from bone marrow have remained an ultimate option of transplantation for years, despite the risks involved pre and post-transplantation.
• Better acceptability, fewer risks and long shelf life of storage have made a cord blood stem cells superior option as compared to bone marrow stem cells.

The chances of graft diseases after transplantation are more with peripheral blood as compared to cord blood.

• According to the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIH), chances of GVHD (Graft Versus Host Diseases) occur more commonly with grafts of peripheral blood.
• Due to the increased compatibility of donor and recipient in cord blood transplantation, chances of GVHD are decreased after the grafting in host body has taken place.

Apart from the easy collection of cord blood, it can be stored for almost 15 years.

• When frozen, cord blood holds longer shelf life for usage after many years of collection.
• On the contrary, bone marrow blood cannot be preserved for a longer duration.
• Bone marrow blood requires immediate transplantation after collection otherwise the blood loses the efficacy and no longer remains viable to be used for transplantation purposes.

Nowadays, cord blood is widely used for boosting the immunity of patients, during the treatment of cancer.

• Chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer negatively affects the immunity of the person.
• The researchers and medical scientists are employing the use of cord blood stem cells for increasing the strength of the immune system for better treatment outcomes and recovery.

The stem cells from cord blood possess thriving response of division upon migration into the recipient body.

• Enhanced division capability of cord blood stem cells gives better results in recipients as compared to peripheral stem cells.
• Being juvenile and greater proliferation, the yield of cord stem cells is about 14 times greater than cells from other sources.

Despite easier collection, the cord blood banking covers charges in two phases.

• On the first hand, fees of about $2100 are charged regarding collection, enrolment, and storage for the primary year.
• Secondly, per annum, charges are taken for preservation.
• These charges make cord blood banking cost inefficient and unaffordable for many desiring families.

The usage of cord blood for treatment in adults is considered an ineffective option.

• Because of the limited volume of cord blood available from the source, adults cannot be treated for ailments with such less quantity.
• Adults usually require greater blood volumes for treatment purposes which cannot be meant from cord blood bank.

Stem cells from a child are used to treat the diseases and ailments in the same child in autologous transplantation.

• However, the method loses its credibility in the case is of the child suffering from genetic diseases or blood cancer.
• Since the makeup of genes is similar for all the cells of the body, stem cells can no longer remain viable to treat inherited diseases.

Though, the cord blood banking is associated with the easier collection but requires immediate collection at the time of birth of a baby.

• Couples going for cord blood baking need to take the decision way before delivery time as cord blood banking cannot be decided in a spur of the delivery moment.
• Unlike the bone marrow stem cells for which the collection could take place at any time of life, umbilical cord stem cells are available for collection, only at the time of birth.

Cord blood banking holds another disadvantage of lacking second donation chances.

• Stem cells from other sources can be replenished when required, from the same source.
• However, the limited volume of blood is available in cord blood bank with no replenishment.
• Some other donor unit is taken in case of further requirement.

The rare genetic diseases from the donor could get transferred to the recipient through cord blood banking.

• Inherited diseases cannot be assessed at the time of collection and manifest at later stages of life.
• Though the chances are quite less, however, the cord blood poses a threat of transferring the genetic ailment through cord blood banking.

The cord blood stem cells show slow working in the recipient, after grafting.

• The working of the graft is indicated by the appearance of specialized white blood cells (neutrophils and platelets) into the blood of the recipient.
• The white blood cells appear late in grafting from cord blood as compared to stem cells from bone marrow transplantation.

Based upon slow engraftment of umbilical cord stem cells, the certainty of the procedure remains questioned for months till the appearance of working symptoms.

• The cord blood transplantation holds ambiguous success of the procedure due to slow working.
• As a result, it also increases the chances of increased infections in recipients.

Usefulness of cord blood banking becomes gloomy under the ethical issues linked with the process.

• FDA requires appropriate legal considerations and ethical consents of parents involved in cord blood banking.
• The privacy of donor and consent for research-based medical studies on umbilical cord stem cells is also requisite.
• The ethical issues linked with cord blood banking make it controversial under certain circumstances.

The ability for long-term preservation of cord blood does not guarantee the quality of the stored specimen.

• There is no assurance provided by the authorities that whether the specimen would be able to retain its efficacy for a more extended period of duration or not, in a frozen state.
• This problem raises concerns over the reliability of the cord blood banking.