Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking – A hope for HIV cure

Posted on by admin

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus that attacks the immune system, people infected with it can live up to many years without showing any symptoms. This virus slowly deteriorates the immunity of a person and is transmitted to another if certain precautions aren’t followed.

Signs and symptoms of late-stage HIV infection may include:

If left untreated, HIV weakens the ability to fight infection leaving the person vulnerable to many diseases. There are a few signs and symptoms which shouldn’t be taken lightly if they are prevalent for a long time. These symptoms are a Blurred vision, fever of above 37C (100F) lasting for weeks, night sweat, weight loss, permanent tiredness, shortness of breath, diarrhoea (which is usually persistent or chronic), dry cough, white spots on the tongue or mouth, swollen glands lasting for weeks.

Prevalence and Incidences of HIV in India

Men, but less so women, showed a distinct age pattern of deaths from AIDS, peaking at age 25-34. In India, more than 2.1 million people are suffering from HIV, with 172,000 deaths occurring annually

Treatment

HIV is treated using a combination of medicines. This is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART does not cure the disease; it can control the virus so that you can live a healthier life and reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to others.

Benefits of umbilical cord stem cells for curing HIV

The world’s first clinical trial which aims to cure five HIV patients within three years using transplants of blood from the umbilical cord is set to start in Spain. Till now, only one person has been completely cured of HIV and is known as the “Berlin patient”. He was diagnosed with both HIV and Leukaemia and needed to be treated for cancer. The doctors used a bone marrow of a donor who had a certain cellular mutation which resisted HIV.

Patients suffering from AIDS-related lymphoma are witnessing the birth of new treatment methods for their illness, and one of these procedures successfully utilizes HIV-resistant umbilical cord stem cells. Doctors have identified stem cell transplantation as a viable treatment method for relapsed or high-risk AIDS-related lymphoma, suggesting a more effective cure for patients currently suffering from this disease.

Here’s an info-graph to illustrate and summarize the above-mentioned facts.

12

The alarming numbers of HIV incidences in India and proven results of stem cell transplants, make the need for Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking in India evident. Babycell is one of the best and largest service providers of cord blood stem cell banking. Along with stem cell preservation, Babycell also provides value added services like newborn screening (NBS), CFU assay- to test the ability of stem cells to differentiate, HLA testing, Father’s wellness program and more.

Pregnancy Exercise Tips

Posted on by admin

It is essential to have a fit, flexible and strong body when you’re pregnant!

Exercise during pregnancy helps you improve your metabolism, aids digestion, and helps in dealing with pregnancy woes such as back aches and muscle cramps.

Here’s an exercise chart especially for pregnant women that will guide you through an exercise regime.

Exercise

5 DIY Ideas To Decorate Your Baby’s Room

Posted on by admin

Looking for DIY craft ideas to personalize your baby’s room? Look no further, we have a pool of ideas to help you!

  1. Graphic Wall Decals

Make your own wall decals with fabric, a pair of scissors and spray starch. Cut the fabric into whatever shapes you want, and attach them to the walls using the spray as an adhesive — don’t freak out about that fresh paint job; they’re easy to remove! From Positively Splendid

Picture3Photo courtesy: Positively Splendid 

  1. Picture Frames

This one’s easy and the most personalized idea, we swear. Pick up some picture frames at a craft store and put your favorite artwork, drawings or family photos inside them. Arrange them in a big cluster on one of your baby room walls — they’ll create a sophisticated yet cute look you can switch up as baby’s tastes change and add new photos.

jjPhoto: Baby Room Ideas 

  1. Homemade Mobile

Yep, you can even DIY baby’s mobile. All you need is a wooden hoop, wooden stars or cardboard stars (you can pick these up at the craft store), paint, some ribbon and a key ring. Paint the stars, attach strips of ribbon to the key ring and glue them to the wooden hoop, glue the stars to the ribbon, and hang. From LoveLifeBaby.Blogspot.com

Picture5Photo: lovebabylife.blogspot.com 

  1. Alphabet Wall Art

Make a cute ABC display. Head to the craft store (again) for some assorted sizes of wooden letters and paint them in different colors and designs. Then put them up on baby’s wall in lines. From Jessica-Kindergartenteacher.blogspot.com                 

Picture2

Picture4Photo: Jessica-kindergartenteacher.blogspot.com

  1. Swatch Portraits

To make these fabric circles, you need embroidery hoops, fabric, scissors and Elmer’s glue. Place the fabric in the embroidery hoop and glue it along the edge. Then hang the hoops on the wall. Super easy! From Aedriel’s Originals

Picture1Photo: Aedriel Originals

 

5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing the Best Stem Cell Bank

Posted on by admin

While you are pregnant, one of the most important tasks for you and your family is to plan and safeguard your baby’s future! This requires a lot of groundwork and planning for the baby-on-the-way. Health conscious and aware parents are considering cord blood stem cell preservation to be an integral part of their baby plan.

What is Umbilical Cord?

The term “cord blood” is used to describe the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and the placenta after the birth of a baby. Up until recently this afterbirth umbilical cord was discarded as medical waste. Cord blood contains stem cells that may be cryopreserved for later use in medical therapies, such as stem cell transplants or clinical trials of new stem cell therapies.

What are cord blood stem cells?

The blood in the umbilical cord and placenta is rich in stem cells. The stem cells in cord blood can grow into the blood and immune system cells, as well as other types of cells.

Screenshot_1

 

One of the most important decisions to be taken is – Which is the best umbilical cord blood bank for my baby?

Here are a few questions that you must ask the cord blood bank and choose the best cord blood bank for your baby.

Picture1

 

Let’s take it step by step based on the following parameters –

  1. Are there any specific accreditations I should look for when selecting a cord blood bank?

To decide on a cord blood bank, you’ll want to look at a number of factors which will define cell processing and lab practices: Cord blood banks should comply with national accreditation standards developed by national regulatory bodies such as ISO, FDA, GMP, GCP and GLP.  Cord blood banks who have attained these gold standards have a systematic, hygienic, temperature controlled and regulated lab for extraction and preservation.

  1. When and how is cord blood collected?

Umbilical cord blood is harvested quickly and painlessly just a few minutes after the birth of the baby— after the cord has been clamped, on both sides, and cut (either before or after the delivery of the placenta). The blood is collected either by drawing the blood from the umbilical cord with a needle and a “gravity bag” to drain and collect the blood.

  1.  What questions should parents ask about Collection?

It is necessary to know if the cord blood bank takes care of the collection of cord blood at the time of birth and the cost of shipping the cord blood to the preservation facility is included in the contract/agreement. It is also important to ask about paramedic or collection experts’ availability on weekends and wee hours.

  1. How does the cord blood bank manage shipping at the time of preservation and retrieval?

Most cord blood banks assure free global shipment at the time of retrieval, but it also important to understand the shipping criteria during transportation of the specimen from birthing centre to the cryopreservation facility. You may also want to ask the cord blood bank to guarantee to transport the specimen to the lab and processed within a certain time window. It is mandatory that the cryo-shipping container has a temperature logger.

  1. Is CFU really important, should we as parents care about it?

The answer is simple, it’s a big Yes. At present Colony Forming Units or CFU are considered to be the only and the best measure of whether stem cells are “viable”, or quite frankly if the cells are alive.  The Total Nucleated Cell count includes both living and dead cells.  In the CFU test, a small portion is watched under controlled conditions to see if cord blood stem cells divide and form colonies.  It is a standardized technology to image the cells and count colonies in the image.  It is advised by experts to take the CFU test before preservation as the test takes a lot of days for colonies to grow rather than wasting time at that time of retrieval or transplant to perform the test.

We hope this helps you to ask the right questions and thereby make your decisions about preserving your baby’s stem cells with the right bank!

For more information you may check: parentsguidecordblood.org/ and http://www.babycell.in/

Babycell has a panel of cord blood banking and stem cell transplants experts. To address your queries on stem cell banking you may call 1800 209 0309

Eight-year Old receives a Life Saving Stem Cell Treatment

Posted on by admin

This is a story of Veena who was cured of Thalassemia by using umbilical cord stem cells.
Veena was detected with Thalassemia major since her birth. Veena’s parents always wanted her to live a normal life like other children. They visited a lot of doctors and pediatricians. Their lives revolved around appointments, medication and the constant worry of her condition getting worse.

While on the lookout for alternate solutions to her therapy, they came across stem cell banking therapy that had a cure for a myriad of disease, Thalassemia being one of them. This led them to Babycell’s center.

The doctors suggested her family to have another child and bank the new-born child’s cord blood stem cells which will help them cure Veena’s condition. Dr. Vijay Ramanan (Hematologist) was the specialist appointed to take this procedure ahead. The team executed the process smoothly with conscious moves at every step and the operation went as it was anticipated.

Veena’s transplant has been successful and has changed her life forever. She now lives a normal life just like others kids, playful and full of life. The best part about this transplant is that she is now free from all the machines and transfusions she was previously dependent on. She is living a healthy life with no worries, and a future full of surprises and ambitions.

Nurture Your New Born

Posted on by admin

You’ve experienced 9 months of pregnancy, made it through the excitement of labour and delivery and now you’re ready to embark upon a new life with your little sweetheart. You bring your little bundle of joy home and finally get some peaceful time with your baby and only one thought crosses your mind – “You are my new world from now on, I will do anything and everything to take care of you!”.

Taking care of your newborn is one of the most special and rewarding experiences of your life. You may initially feel anxious about what to do in order to give your child constant attention and care.

There is so much information to take in when you become a parent. Sometimes when we look at the bigger picture of family planning, we miss out on small and simple things that a newborn would need from a parent.

Here are some tips that will help first-time parents feel confident about caring for a new-born in no time.

  • Feeding your baby

You will have to feed your baby at least 8 to 12 times per day during the initial weeks. You may want to wake your baby if he/she has not been fed for more than 4 hours. In the beginning, mothers may want to try feeding 10-15 minutes on each breast and then adjust the time as needed. Breastfeeding should be ‘on demand’ (when your baby is hungry), which is generally every 1-3 hours. The right time to feed your baby milk and solid foods is when he/she is sitting upright and can hold his/her head up straight

Picture3

  • Baby skin care

The skin of your newborn is very sensitive and is prone to rashes. Don’t panic if you see red rashes on your baby’s body in the first few months.  Keep your baby’s skin hydrated by bathing in warm water for only three to five minutes.

Avoid letting your baby sit or play or soak for long in soapy water. Apply baby lotion or moisturizer immediately after bath while the skin is still wet, and then pat dry instead of rubbing.

  • Picture4Baby’s Learning Process

Babies in this age spend more time awake and become more curious about their parents and about objects that they see. They have a special skill called imagination!

Design the nursery full of colours with lots of space to give them an outlet to express their creativity. Give them a room that has alphabets, games, toys and plain canvas space so that they can channelize their imagination and discover themselves. A child’s imagination runs wild, and parents must encourage them to express it!

Picture5

  • Getting Dads Involved

Dads, grab the chance to bond with your little bunny. A newborn gets used to being soothed by the mother when they are sulking. If Dads take the responsibility to rock their babies to sleep and soothe their tears, they will start bonding with their babies in no time!

Besides pacifying your baby, you can also be the fun parent. Get involved with the baby by playing games and teaching them how to walk. Let your baby come closer to you with these fond gestures.

Picture2

  •  Baby Sleep

It takes a few months for your little one to adjust to his/her sleeping cycles. Give them some time to understand the difference between dawn and sunset.

When the baby is awake during the day, interact and play with him/her as much as you can. Keep the house and his room light and bright. At night keep the lights and noise level low, and don’t spend too much time talking to him/her.  An infant’s sleep pattern settles down between the 3-6 months’ mark.

Picture6

 

Signs Of Pregnancy

Posted on by admin
Pregnancy tips

Missed your period? Is it a hormonal change or pregnancy?

Find out with these 7 simple signs!

  1. Morning sickness

Do you wake up in the morning feeling nauseous? This could be one of the occurring symptoms of pregnancy. This condition affects pregnant women mostly during the first trimester, about six weeks after conception. If a feeling of queasiness follows you throughout the day, it might be a good idea to see your gynaecologist as soon as you can.

2. Tickling nipples

A sudden increase in the blood supply especially in the breast area results into irritation around your nipples. One of the earliest symptoms of pregnancy, this may start within a week of fertilization

3. Faint bleeding or spotting

You may experience slight stains on your panties. They may be red, brown or even pink. Don?t be alarmed when you get it. It?s a common sign of early pregnancy.

  1. Swelling of breasts

Tender breasts and swelling around that area is also one of signs that you shouldn?t neglect. You may also experience blue veins popping out around your breasts. These changes are brought about by hormones which may make your?breasts?feel?swollen.

  1. Feeling worn-out all the time

From one person you are developing into two. ?It goes without saying that you require more food, more energy and more rest. When your body starts providing extra support and nutrition for your baby it often takes a toll on itself making you uneasy and tired all the time.

  1. Frequent urination

You may realize you are peeing almost every 10 seconds. Why is that happening? The hormones are to be blamed again. Soon after you conceive, the amount of blood in your body and its flow rises. This causes extra fluid to be processed through your kidneys and then gets collected straight into your bladder.

  1. A skipped period

A missed period is one of the definite signs of pregnancy. But this too depends from cycle to cycle. If you are always regular, and you miss a period, chances are more. However if you suffer from PCOS or have irregular periods you cannot be sure until you see a doctor.

Still a bundle of nerves? A pregnancy test will solve all your worries! :)