Cord blood: do you know what every schoolchild knows?

They started talking about preserving umbilical cord blood in the Ukrainian expanses not so long ago. For the first progressive parents of our country, preserving the cord blood of their children became available only about 7 years ago. At that time, few people knew about the existence of special institutions in Ukraine - cord blood banks, and the value of cord blood stem cells could only be heard in reports at scientific conferences.

Cord blood began to be frozen 20 years ago

At the same time, the existence of stem cells in cord blood became known back in the seventies of the last century, and doctors carried out the first successful treatment with cord blood stem cells in 1988 in France. The practice of preserving umbilical cord blood has existed for more than 20 years. Today, there are more than 200 cord blood banks on 6 continents of the world. And the use of stem cells (more precisely, the so-called “hematopoietic” stem cells) has become the gold standard in the treatment of hematological diseases.

Today, modern scientists recognize that the discovery of stem cells, made by Russian scientist Alexander Maximov back in 1908, became one of the most important breakthroughs in medicine. Along with it is the discovery of antibiotics and the creation of vaccines.

Stem cells are a subject of study for Ukrainian schoolchildren

“Why are stem cells so valuable?” - this question is asked today by thousands of teachers in Ukrainian schools, and thousands of ninth-graders answer it: “Stem cells are cells that retain the ability to divide throughout the life of the body and replace dead cells. Stem cells are capable of renewing themselves many times. When they divide, one cell remains a stem cell, and a specialized cell is formed from the other.

There are 2 types of stem cells - embryonic, from which all fetal tissues develop, and adult stem cells, the number of which decreases in tissues. Today it seems that the problems of treating serious diseases, increasing life expectancy, and preserving youth can be solved with the help of stem cells. Numerous scientific laboratories around the world are working on this.” ("Biology" textbook for 9th grade of secondary schools, p. 26).

Unlike modern schoolchildren, not many parents know about the amazing properties of stem cells. And not all future parents have information that adult stem cells can be isolated from the umbilical cord blood of a newborn baby and stored in a cryogenic storage bank as a kind of insurance in case of a serious illness. After all, it is in the cord blood that there are young and active stem cells that are 100% suitable for the child himself, and their concentration in the cord blood is tens of times higher than, for example, in the bone marrow.

There are no state donor banks in Ukraine

In addition to umbilical cord blood, the same stem cells can be obtained from bone marrow and blood that circulates in our body. But such procedures are quite unsafe and after they are carried out the body will need some time to recover. Therefore, cord blood is currently considered the easiest and safest option for obtaining stem cells. For example, in the USA, the doctor will definitely tell every expectant mother that she can save stem cells in a personal cord blood bank or donate them to a general state bank.

Such government-financed donor banks have long been active in many civilized countries. The stem cells stored in them are used for those citizens who need transplantation after chemotherapy. But this option is only possible if a compatible sample can be found in a donor bank for the patient. Therefore, many parents prefer