Statistics On Umbilical Cord Transplants
During the past few years, due to the successful cord blood researches, tests, and transplant procedures, the statistics on umbilical cord transplant has shown increasing positive results. These statistics prove that the procedure on umbilical cord transplant provides more successful treatments to many different diseases and that more people turn to it for treatment.
Current news
At present, cord blood and the stem cells it contains are transplanted to patients with leukemia, anemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other infectious diseases that originate from the bone marrow. In the United States alone, about 110,000 individuals are diagnosed with these diseases every year. Without proper treatment, these diseases may kill 60,000 or more patients in the following years.
Although there are a number of different drugs that can be used for treating these diseases, medications and pills can not always solve the problem. Patients usually have to undergo hospital procedures such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and bone marrow transplant in combination with the drugs to weaken, if not totally cure, the disease. Bone marrow transplant has become the standard treatment procedure for many patients since it was introduced more than 30 years ago.
Beginnings
The first umbilical cord blood transplant was successfully performed by French physicians in 1998. This procedure involved the collection of a newborn baby's cord blood and transplanting it to his five-year-old brother who was suffering from severe anemia. The operation was successful, and it made physicians, health professionals, and researchers recognize the long-term reliability of umbilical cord blood transplant as treatment for similar diseases. However, during that time, the process was still under observation and was still in the experimental stage. In fact, only 2,000 patients were successfully treated then using cord blood and stem cell transplants.
Recent numbers
Although there have only been a few results recorded from actual cord blood transplant cases, one recent test shows the effectiveness of the transplant procedure. Three young children with an immune system disorder have undergone cord blood transplant, and after two years, their immune system became perfectly normal.
The National Academies report that more than 20,000 Americans have undergone a successful umbilical cord blood transplant from cord blood donations in the last several years. Because of this, The National Academies recommend that public cord blood banking should be continuously practiced in order to meet the cord blood transplant requirements of many patients. According to the latest statistics, there are only 50,000 cord blood units available for transplantation, and cord blood banks need over 100,000 cord blood units more.
Because of this, most insurance companies are still doubtful and generally reluctant to cover cord blood storage costs. This means that transplant procedures are only meant, for the meantime, for patients who can afford the storage of cord blood.