Some time ago, 42-year-old actress Yang Yi posted a pregnancy photo of her second child on social platforms, which attracted the attention of many netizens.
Yang Yi in the photo is dressed in a black suit, with exquisite makeup and a smart hairstyle, although the pregnant belly has been very obvious, the whole person is full of maternal brilliance, but there is a hint of "workplace elite" temperament, very fashionable and beautiful.
At the same time as taking photos, Yang Yi also took the initiative to share some pregnancy details with fans, mentioning that when a "little pearl" was born, because she and her lover were novices, it was inevitable that they would be busy.
This time to give birth to the second child, Yang Yi felt that she was fully prepared, saying that she had prepared an "important gift" for her brother - storing umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord membranes for the baby.
For the "storage of cord blood", I believe that many mothers are not strangers, in many hospitals, almost every time a baby is born, there will be professional staff to recommend the preservation of cord blood to the parents of newborns, and the umbilical cord blood will be preached between words.
Is cord blood really so magical? Is it an "IQ tax"? Is it necessary to save at your own expense? To understand these questions, we must first start with "What is cord blood".
What is cord blood?
The so-called "cord blood" refers to the blood left in the placenta and umbilical cord after the newborn is delivered, the umbilical cord is ligated and broken, and is usually discarded at first.
It was not until 1988, when a French doctor successfully treated a 6-year-old boy with a hereditary blood disease through umbilical cord blood transplantation, that people discovered that cord blood had great medical value and further research was carried out.
The reason why cord blood is so magical is that it is rich in various types of undifferentiated protocells, of which hematopoietic stem cells are the most important, although it is similar to hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow, but it has two advantages.
On the one hand, hematopoietic stem cells in cord blood have more differentiation potential, and the success rate of transplantation is higher than that of bone marrow transplantation, and it is not easy to be rejected by the human immune system.
On the other hand, cord blood is easier to collect, it is present in the umbilical cord or placenta of newborns, can be extracted without surgery, and does not cause damage to the health of the fetus and pregnant women.
Through hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, it can help to achieve the repair and regeneration of organs, blood and immune system, so cord blood has become a "panacea" in the eyes of the public and a "new favorite" in the medical community.
Is cord blood really so magical?
Although cord blood does have a certain medical value, in the mouth of some practitioners, it is even more publicized as "crazy", but in order to make cord blood "make the best use of things", the conditions are actually more demanding, and some practical problems behind it need to be clear.
First of all, the probability that a child will be able to treat a disease with cord blood is extremely low.
According to the data statistics of the American Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation Society, the probability of children using their own umbilical cord blood to treat the disease is 0.005%-0.04%, and in most cases, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells should be preferred, and it is not difficult to find that this probability is very low.
The reason for this is that because of some genetic mutations or genetic-related diseases, such as leukemia, thalassemia, etc., the child's umbilical cord blood itself will have the same problem, naturally can not give themselves a transplant, if parents are ready to save umbilical cord blood to prevent "leukemia" for children, it is undoubtedly a proper "IQ tax".
Secondly, there is the problem of the storage time of cord blood.
Although cord blood is stored in liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius, theoretically it can be stored for a long time, but due to the current short promotion time of cord blood, whether these cord blood can be stored for decades is still inconclusive.
In particular, some parents choose to store cord blood in commercial companies at their own expense, which may not be as reliable as a formal and legal cord blood bank and will be more susceptible to external factors.
Is it necessary to store cord blood at your own expense?
For this question, in fact, in 2019, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has put forward relevant opinions:
Do not support routine private cord blood;
If parents, siblings have a major disease (malignancy, genetic disease) and can benefit from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, private cord blood storage may be considered;
If you are concerned that your child will need a stem cell transplant, a public cord blood bank is a better option.
Therefore, if parents are ready to "buy insurance" for their children, it is best to choose to donate cord blood and choose a public umbilical cord blood bank, after all, in case of accident, the probability of children using allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells is higher.
And the use of cord blood for public matching can benefit society and help children who really need it on the one hand, and on the other hand, even if the child really needs it in the future, it also has the priority right to use cord blood.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the current storage of private cord blood, the price ranges from 20,000-30,000 yuan, and you can also choose to pay a one-time payment of about 10,000 yuan, and then pay about a thousand yuan of storage costs every year, this price is not too high, but it is not low, whether it is worth it, or it lies in the parents' personal discretion.
Old Miao Conclusion:
All in all, cord blood does have a certain medical value, but the probability of children treating the disease with their own cord blood is extremely low, but the probability of treating the disease with allogeneic umbilical cord blood is relatively high.
As for whether self-funded cord blood is an "IQ tax" or whether it is analyzed on a case-by-case basis, in general, public cord blood banks are a better choice than private cord blood stores.
Today's topic: Do you store cord blood for your child?
I am Lao Miao, a super grandfather after the 80s, and the most eye-catching male head nurse in the hospital, welcome to discuss the issue of pregnancy together, and please pay attention to Lao Miao.