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Newsweek articulates two sides to the cord blood banking debate |
As you know, it's sometimes hard to separate real journalism from hype when it comes to the web. Today we came upon a blog posting on Newsweek.com by Mary Carmichael in an e-column called "The human condition."
The blogger tells of her decision not to bank her baby's cord blood, and goes on to support her decision with input from highly regarded resources like the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University in California. She also suggests criticism from important medical groups such as the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The blog the possible pressure experienced by parents-to-be through the marketing practices of private banks. I'm sure we've all witnessed the barrage of magazine advertising and OB-office literature while waiting for those doctor appointments.
But the media, in the end, needs to be fair and balanced. To that end, on this very same blog page, there is a video of a family whose son was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at eight months old and who had a successful stem cell transfusion from the umbilical cord blood that was banked with a private bank. These heartfelt claims from his parents are hard to dispute, and so we have to applaud Newsweek for presenting two sides to the story.
[You may note another video by a competing bank as part of the same topic; makes you wonder who paid for that clip, doesn't it? We invite you to look at that too. In it you will hear an employee proudly state the cost: "$2000...plus $125 per year for storage." As M.A.Z.E. cord blood patients know, we simply don't have to charge those storage fees since we don't have to pay for all that advertising...]
Once a family has banked, they know the feeling of safety and security they feel; M.A.Z.E. patients know they've chosen the most affordable option without sacrificing FDA approval or AABB accreditation.
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| More Cord Blood News |
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Even if a family decides to donate umbilical cord blood instead of opting for a private bank, great good can come of it. Here's a story about how donated cord blood stem cells are helping a 9-year old boy his battle with cerebral palsy.
In other news, new cases have been presented where type I diabetes is slowed with the transfusion of cord blood stem cells. These stem cells in the blood slow the "immune attack" so the pancreas destroys fewer insulin-producing cells.
Finally, at The Medical College of Georgia a new round of clinical trials will begin to test whether infusions of umbilical cord blood improve the quality of life for children with cerebral palsy.
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