News
Rheumatoid relief in sight for arthritis sufferers
Professor Zhan-guo Li has worked with a team of researchers from Peking University People’s Hospital, China, to carry out a laboratory study in which cord blood stem cells were used to suppress inflammation and weaken the disease. Professor Li said, “Very little is known about umbilical cord MSCs, and there has been no previous report…
Cord blood changed my life
Four year old Maia Friedlander became a New Zealand medical pioneer when she became one of the first Kiwi children to have her cord blood re-infused for her brain injury. Maia was less than a year old when parents Jillian and Daniel realised she was developing differently to her twin sister Arielle. She’d been deprived…
More about Dr Wise Young’s research…
• Dr Young’s trials are being undertaken by the China Spinal Cord Injury Network (China SCINET) which he helped established in 2003. It is the largest spinal cord injury clinical trial network. • ChinaSCINet has completed three clinical trials to date. The first is an observational trial of 500 subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI)…
Cord Blood gets its own Awareness Month
July has been designated “Cord Blood Awareness Month” by the American Hospital Association’s Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD), with the goals of raising awareness about cord blood stem cells and helping empower expectant parents to make informed choices regarding their family’s future health. Here in New Zealand you can help raise awareness…
Kiwi children with cystic fibrosis set to benefit from cord blood lung study
Three more kiwi children are set to benefit from a cord blood lung study currently underway in Melbourne. Led by Professor Bob Williamson at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Medicine, the study is using umbilical cord blood to treat Cystic Fibrosis an inherited disease in which a thick mucus clogs the lungs, making it…
Stem cells help lung sufferers breathe easier
Australian researchers have just found a way to use stem cells to reduce injury and scarring in the lung and even generate new lung cells. Lead researcher, associated professor Yuben Moodley from the University of Western Australia, said the investigation could provide hope for patients suffering from lung damage. In Australia, one in four are…
Has your child been diagnosed with a brain injury?
If your child has been diagnosed with any one of the following conditions and you have their cord blood stored at CordBank, we’d like to hear from you: • Any type of brain injury from a fall or accident • Cerebral Palsy • Stroke • Brain injury resulting from lack of oxygen prior to or…
Successful stem cell treatment for acute spinal cord injury in dogs
In February 2010, a study reporting the successful treatment of spinal cord injury in dogs using cord blood was released – with researchers confident that the this technique has many potential applications in the treatment of human spinal cord injury. While previous research on spinal cord injury has typically used rats, this study used dogs…
Cord blood cells may provide therapy for muscle and bone disorders
Stem cells that could one day provide therapeutic options for muscle and bone disorders can be easily harvested from the umbilical cord, just as the blood that goes through it provides precursor cells to treat some blood disorders, said University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in the online version of the Journal of Biomedicine…
Own stem cells – the best stem cells says global WHO study
A study initiated by the World Health Organization and published in the May Journal of the American Medical Association shows that stem cell transplantation has become an accepted therapy worldwide and that the majority of transplant patients received a source of their own (autologous) stem cells. This global study evaluated the more than 50,000 stem…