News
Stem cell therapy now available for pets
A new stem cell treatment costing around AU$2,500 is now available for pets. The treatment involves new cells being placed into damaged tissue to treat disease or injury. Injured and arthritic dogs are undergoing stem cell treatment for the first time at two separate vet clinics in Mundaring and Champion Lakes in Western Australia. The…
New study to treat liver disease with cord blood
A study is being conducted by China’s Qingdao University to investigate the efficacy of cord blood to treat liver cirrhosis. Cirrhosis of the liver is now the third highest cause of death in the Western world. The devastating disease is caused by factors including alcohol abuse and hepatitis resulting in scarring and poor liver function….
Sickle cell anaemia cure from sibling cord blood
A little girl suffering from sickle cell anaemia is now well and back at school following an umbilical cord blood stem cell transfusion from her brother. Since birth, American girl Carol Mulumba, now 10, had been shuttled to and from emergency rooms and specialists, fighting Sickle cell anaemia – an inherited abnormality of the blood…
Significant stem cell trial for Multiple Sclerosis patients
A significant clinical trial due to start later this year across Europe, will aim to slow, stop or even reverse the damage Multiple Sclerosis (MS) causes to the brain and spinal cord. Researchers will collect stem cells from the bone marrow of patients, grow them in the laboratory and then re-inject them into their blood….
Cord blood transplants predicted to increase by 500%
The National Marrow Donor Program in the United States projects that 10,000 cord blood stem cell transplants will be performed annually by 2015, up from 2,000 in 2006… an increase of a staggering 500% according to Dr Robert Dracker, Executive Medical Director, Americord Registry. The leading haematologist, transfusion medicine specialist and recognised leader in cord…
Stem cell treatment increases breast cancer survival
Every year, 600 women die of breast cancer in New Zealand, and 11% of all women are expected to be diagnosed during their lifetime. However a study undertaken by doctors at the Stanford School of Medicine is hoping to one day make this a thing of the past. The study found that women with advanced…
Cord Blood Collections Now Available at National Women’s Hospital
June 2011 saw the start of a training programme for midwives at National Women’s Hospital, as part of an agreement with the ADHB to provide the cord blood collection service for parents under their care. This is great news for mums- to-be who will be delivering at the hospital, and we are delighted that this…
Cord Blood Trial to help Premature and Low Birth-weight Babies
Doctors at the Ain Shams University Medical School in Cairo have registered a clinical trial with the United States National Institute of Health that aims to infuse premature and low birth-weight (less than 3.3 pounds) newborn infants with their own cord blood to speed up lung development and therefore reliance on respiratory machinery in neonatal…
Cord Blood Aids Diabetic Wound Healing
Diabetics are naturally prone to a large array of complications and infections, most of which are worsened by their inability to heal well. But transplanting cord blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has been found to “significantly accelerate” wound closure in diabetic mice, says a team of Korean researchers. EPCs are rare cells that circulate in…
Clinical Trial Looks to bring Cord Blood Treatment for Cerebral Palsy Closer to Home
A clinical trial currently awaiting approval will mean that children suffering from cerebral palsy like Zac and Maia won’t have to travel to the United States for treatment with their own cord blood. As reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, researchers at Melbourne’s Monash Medical Centre are currently awaiting approval to start a clinical trial…