All women expecting a baby take note of a way for you to help enhance the life of someone suffering from cancer by donating the umbilical cord for research. After your little bundle of joy is delivered, the umbilical cord is typically tossed away as useless. I’ve read that for at least the last 20 years research had been in the works that is finally starting to get attention; the benefits and positive results attained from using cord blood to treat disease.
As one with cancer, I am interested in this because all the chemotherapy and radiation I’ve already had in the last two years is now having its effect on my bone marrow. My white blood count is almost always low so I have to get a shot of Neulasta each time I have chemo to get those white cells going again. Someday I might need to consider a treatment involving an infusion of umbilical cord stem cells. It involves an IV infusion up to a 5 hour period, no different than the chemo treatments I’ve taken in the past. Since an essentially foreign substance from another person is being introduced into the body, it’s of course not without risk of rejection and also carries potential side effects such as “nausea, vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite, mouth sores, hair loss, and skin reactions.” Although there may be some side effects, the benefits may out way the risks.
Consider this: “Chemotherapy and radiation therapy generally affect cells that divide rapidly. They are used to treat cancer because cancer cells divide more often than most healthy cells. However, because bone marrow cells also divide frequently, high-dose treatments can severely damage or destroy the patient’s bone marrow. Without healthy bone marrow, the patient is no longer able to make the blood cells needed to carry oxygen, fight infection, and prevent bleeding. BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) and PBSCT (Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplant) replace stem cells destroyed by treatment. The healthy, transplanted stem cells can restore the bone marrow’s ability to produce the blood cells the patient needs.” (http://www.cancer.gov/
So how is cord blood obtained for use in treatment? Here’s more information from the Cancer.gov website: “Stem cells also may be retrieved from umbilical cord blood. For this to occur, the mother must contact a cord blood bank before the baby’s birth. The cord blood bank may request that she complete a questionnaire and give a small blood sample. Cord blood banks may be public or commercial. Public cord blood banks accept donations of cord blood and may provide the donated stem cells to another matched individual in their network. In contrast, commercial cord blood banks will store the cord blood for the family, in case it is needed later for the child or another family member. After the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been cut, blood is retrieved from the umbilical cord and placenta. This process poses minimal health risk to the mother or the child. If the mother agrees, the umbilical cord blood is processed and frozen for storage by the cord blood bank. Only a small amount of blood can be retrieved from the umbilical cord and placenta, so the collected stem cells are typically used for children or small adults.” One such public bank available in Arizona is http://www.clinimmune.com/
I wanted to find an example of how cord blood research has benefited an adult with cancer and Google provided this article about treating adults with leukemia. Click on "Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant: Effective New Leukemia Treatment For Adults" to read the article. The following is an excerpt: “For years, we've been able to use cord blood successfully to treat children with leukemia and other blood disorders. But researchers have wondered whether the small amount of stem cells in cord blood can create a whole new immune system in fully-grown adults, who are also more likely than children to reject a less-than-perfect transplant,” says Dr. Laughlin. “We’ve been able to show that just two ounces of blood harvested from an umbilical cord can generate a new blood-producing immune system, and we don’t even need a perfect match for a successful transplant because of the immature nature of cord blood stem cells.”
As if all this isn’t reason enough to be a proponent of cord blood research there is no ethical problem with using biological material otherwise destined for the trash can to save lives. Because a child has to die for an embryonic stem cell to be used and if aborted fetuses are being acquired for research, I will not, in good conscience, participate just so I can live a few years longer. The Apostle Paul taught the Athenians long ago this principle that describes the One, True Creator God of the universe… He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being…(Acts 17:25-28).
We’re here because of the Lord, His infinitesimal power, intelligence and grace. We have no pre-ordained right to kill an innocent baby to extend another life not mean to last more than 70-80 years at best anyway. Cord research is a humane way made allowed by God to kill cancer, but if we live or die let be to the glory of the Lord knowing Heaven is our forever home, keeping our gaze on Jesus the giver of all good things.
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