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Q: 1.What is cord blood?
Q: 2.Are cord blood stem cells different than other types of stem cells?
Q: 3.why are doctors turning to cord blood instead of bone marrow?
Q: 4.What is HLA matching?
Q: 5.What are stem cells?
Q: 6.What diseases can cord blood treat?
Q: 7.Is it possible to treat patients with Muscular Dystrophy with cord blood stem cells?
Q: 8.Are stem cells used to cure heart diseases and heart attacks?
Q: 9.Can stem cells be used to treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?
Q: 10.Is Vitiligo curable?
Q: 11.Is it possible to treat Myopathy by cord blood stem cells?
Q: 12.Is it possible to send the frozen samples to other countries?
Q: 13.Are cord blood stem cells used to treat Sickle-Cell Anaemia?
Q: 14.Can stem cells be used to cure Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?
Q: 15.Can cord blood stem cell transplant be used for a child with natal brain paralysis?
Q: 16.Is ALL curable by stem cells?
Q: 17. Can we use cord blood stem cells to help a body part paralyzed by an accident regain some movement?
Q: 18. My first child is 8 and has a brain tumor. Is it possible to use our second child’s stem cells for the first one?
Q: 19. Do you contract with an expectant mother who got MALT Lymphoma in childhood? Is it possible to store the cord blood cells for the child?
Q: 20. What are the main characteristics of stem cells?
Q: 21. How are cord blood stem cells sold?
Q: 22. If the parents are a member of the bank for their first child, will it be necessary to do the same for the second child?
Q: 23. If the mother has Diabetes, can she use the cord blood stem cells for treatment?
Q: 24. Do you contract with an expectant mother suffering from Myasthenia Gravis?
Q: 25. Are stem cells used to treat Myopathy?
Q: 26. I have a 6-year-old daughter with type I Diabetes. Is it possible to cure her using cord blood stem cells?
Q: 27. Is it possible to treat Pilonidal Sinus by cell therapy?
Q: 28. Are stem cells used to cure Thalassemia major?
Q: 29. I have a 6-year-old child who has β factor deficiency. Can stem cells be used to treat this disease?
Q: 30. My 34-year-old wife has Parkinson’s disease. Is it possible to use our child’s cord blood to treat her?
Q: 31. I’m 37 and had a kidney transplant 2 years ago. My wife is pregnant. In case the tests come positive, can I use my child’s stem cells to treat my kidney disease?
Q: 1.What is cord blood?
A: Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta following birth and after the cord is cut, the blood is routinely discarded with the placenta and umbilical cord. The stem cells found in cord blood restore the function of the patient’s immune and blood producing systems. It is an alternative to using bone marrow, with the advantage of being immediately available when required.
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Q: 2.Are cord blood stem cells different than other types of stem cells?
A: Yes. Umbilical cord blood stem cells are the "youngest," safely available stem cells. Freezing these cells essentially stops the clock and prevents aging and damage that may occur to the cells later in life. Another source of stem cells is embryonic stem cells that currently are not being used to treat humans. A third category of stem cells is adult stem cells, such as those found in bone marrow. Adult stem cells serve very specialized roles in children and adults and are not as proliferative as those found in cord blood.
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Q: 3.why are doctors turning to cord blood instead of bone marrow?
A: Bone marrow is difficult to match between the donor and recipient because a "perfect match" is usually required. Cord blood immune cells, however, are less mature than in bone marrow and can be successfully used even when there is only a half-match. This means there is more opportunity for transplants between family members when cord blood is stored. Some studies have shown that overall survival rates for related transplants are more than double that of transplants from unrelated donors.
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Q: 4.What is HLA matching?
A: Human Leukocyte Antigens or HLA are six proteins that appear on the surface of white blood cells and other tissues in the body. These HLA points determine tissue compatibility between a patient and a donor. The higher is the tissue compatibility, the higher are the chances of a successful transplant. With cord blood, the immune cells are less mature than those in bone marrow, and therefore siblings are twice as likely to be able to use each other's cord blood, compared to bone marrow.
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Q: 5.What are stem cells?
A: Stem cells are the “master cells” of the body. Blood stem cells are present in cord blood. These cells are what we call ‘unspecialised’, which means they have the ability to develop into parts of the blood that the patient’s body requires - red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets.
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Q: 6.What diseases can cord blood treat?
A: Cord blood transplants have been shown to cure patients with a variety of serious conditions: Malignancies - a cancer of the blood, e.g. Leukaemia, Lymphoma Bone marrow failure - when bone marrow does not produce the cells it should Haemoglobinopathies - a blood disorder e.g. Sickle Cell Anaemia, Thalassaemia Immunodeficiencies - when the immune system does not work properly Metabolic disorders - which affect the breakdown of waste products in the body.
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Q: 7.Is it possible to treat patients with Muscular Dystrophy with cord blood stem cells?
A: Recently the treatment has been done using cord blood cells. In Ukraine and other European countries, researches are being performed on transplantation for this purpose. We do not know about their success rate yet and it varies in different reports. The world standard centers have not approved this transplantation yet and further experiments are required to confirm this treatment.
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Q: 8.Are stem cells used to cure heart diseases and heart attacks?
A: Based on the studies carried out, bone marrow and cord blood stem cells have been used to cure heart diseases and heart attacks. For this purpose HLA Typing must be done to confirm that the recipient is able to accept the donor’s cells. Cord blood transplantation has been done in Germany to treat heart defects. In Iran, Royan Research Institute is undertaking researches on this subject and the transplantation may be available for our patients in the future.
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Q: 9.Can stem cells be used to treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?
A: Stem cells have been used to treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. In this case the patient’s own stem cells can also be used and the decision must be made by the blood and transplant specialist.
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Q: 10.Is Vitiligo curable?
A: Vitiligo can be cured by culturing melanocytes or pigments of this disease. Patients can visit the Transplant Department of Royan Research Institute for further information and treatment.
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Q: 11.Is it possible to treat Myopathy by cord blood stem cells?
A: In some American and European countries, stem cells were used to cure lab animals of Myopathy but no such studies have been done on humans. It is possible that such an experiment will be conducted on humans in the near future but genetic similarity between the recipient and the donor’s cells is necessary.
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Q: 12.Is it possible to send the frozen samples to other countries?
A: Yes, it is. After receiving the request, the frozen samples are handed to the client.
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Q: 13.Are cord blood stem cells used to treat Sickle-Cell Anaemia?
A: If the child is at 10-11 years of age, is HLA compatible with the sample and also there are adequate numbers of cells, we can use cord blood stem cells.
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Q: 14.Can stem cells be used to cure Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?
A: At the present time, stem cells are not used in Iran to cure MS but in Europe and America, 21% of patients have been cured by this treatment. So it is recommended to store cord blood because stem cells have the special potential for curing the disease.
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Q: 15.Can cord blood stem cell transplant be used for a child with natal brain paralysis?
A: At the present time, there is no treatment for brain paralysis in Iran but in the US stem cells have been used for brain paralysis and almost 85% of the patients have recovered. For treatment we can use the child’s stem cells, the sibling’s cord blood or someone else whose cells match genetically with the child. Also there must be adequate numbers of cells.
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Q: 16.Is ALL curable by stem cells?
A: If you or your close family members have a frozen sample in Royan Cord Blood Bank that matches your HLA and there are adequate numbers of stem cells, we can use the sample for this purpose.
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Q: 17. Can we use cord blood stem cells to help a body part paralyzed by an accident regain some movement?
A: It depends on the injury. If the nerves were hurt, nerve transplant can be done. It is recommended to consult with a neurologist.
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Q: 18. My first child is 8 and has a brain tumor. Is it possible to use our second child’s stem cells for the first one?
A: The best solution is removing the tumor from the brain. No direct use of stem cells for brain tumor has been reported yet. It has been observed that stem cells can reduce the harmful side effects of chemotherapy and improve the recovery. We must bear in mind that stem cells of the second child must match genetically with the first one in order to use the cord blood stem cells for treatment.
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Q: 19. Do you contract with an expectant mother who got MALT Lymphoma in childhood? Is it possible to store the cord blood cells for the child?
A: The mother must first take MALT Lymphoma test and if does not encounter any problems, it will be possible to store the cord blood cells for the child.
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Q: 20. What are the main characteristics of stem cells?
A: Stem cells are the most primitive cells of the body that develop during the fetus growth and differentiate to mature and special cells that can form different body tissues. Stem cells extracted from cord blood have great potential and do not get old by consistent culturing.
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Q: 21. How are cord blood stem cells sold?
A: Since we are not connected to NETCORD yet, it is not possible at the moment.
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Q: 22. If the parents are a member of the bank for their first child, will it be necessary to do the same for the second child?
A: The stored blood samples can only be used for their owners and for the other people it is necessary that they are HLA similar. Therefore the storage of the second child’s cord blood is recommended too.
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Q: 23. If the mother has Diabetes, can she use the cord blood stem cells for treatment?
A: If the mother has Gestational Diabetes, it is not possible to store the cord blood but if it is not Gestational, there will be no problem with the storage.
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Q: 24. Do you contract with an expectant mother suffering from Myasthenia Gravis?
A: No. Myasthenia Gravis is a genetic disease and there is the possibility of the gene transfer to the child.
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Q: 25. Are stem cells used to treat Myopathy?
A: At the present time, stem cells are being tested on lab animals for muscular diseases in Iran and good results have been observed so far but unfortunately there is no report of this experiment on humans.
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Q: 26. I have a 6-year-old daughter with type I Diabetes. Is it possible to cure her using cord blood stem cells?
A: In Endocrinology & Metabolism Research Center of Iran University of Medical Sciences, researches are being conducted on the use of stem cells in Diabetes treatment. You can contact them for further information.
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Q: 27. Is it possible to treat Pilonidal Sinus by cell therapy?
A: There has been no use of stem cells or gene therapy for the mentioned disease in Iran.
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Q: 28. Are stem cells used to cure Thalassemia major?
A: Yes, on condition that they are HLA similar. In case drug treatments do not work, the use of stem cells is recommended.
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Q: 29. I have a 6-year-old child who has β factor deficiency. Can stem cells be used to treat this disease?
A: There has been no report of use of stem cells in treatment for this deficiency. At the present time, recombinant factors are used.
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Q: 30. My 34-year-old wife has Parkinson’s disease. Is it possible to use our child’s cord blood to treat her?
A: There have been several reports from other countries concerning stem cells being used to cure Parkinson’s disease but no such a report has been published in Iran. If the disease is at its early stage, drugs are recommended to be used.
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Q: 31. I’m 37 and had a kidney transplant 2 years ago. My wife is pregnant. In case the tests come positive, can I use my child’s stem cells to treat my kidney disease?
A: Stem cells have been used for some kidney diseases. In Iran the researches are being performed on lab animals. Moreover, kidney itself contains some stem cells.
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