Parkinson's disease is a degenerative, neurological condition characterized by a decline in motor skills, muscle function and speech patterns. Men are twice as likely to suffer from Parkinson's than women and its exact cause is unknown.Clinical research has found significant evidence to suggest that umbilical cord blood can aid in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Clinical Research
Parkinson's disease attacks the neurons in the brain's central nervous system--in particular, the nerve cells in the area known as the "substantia nigra." Clinical trials have shown that transplanting the stem cells in cord blood can help regenerate damaged neurons to improve the symptoms of Parkinson's. Stem cells are the originating DNA that help the brain complete normal functions, such as walking, talking and cognitive reasoning.
Cord Blood Collection
A doctor collects cord blood when a baby is born. Many women store the cord blood of their newborn babies as a safeguard against future degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's. The blood is stored indefinitely in liquid nitrogen and can be used at any time and for a variety of conditions. Mothers can also donate their child's cord blood to help others with degenerative diseases.
Alternative Sources of Stem Cells
Stem cells can also be harvested from embryonic and fetal sources. However, there is much controversy surrounding these sources, since the argument of the right to human life is a sensitive subject. Stem cells can also be found in bone marrow, but the process of harvesting these cells is quite painful and invasive. Further, bone marrow must either be an allogeneic match (genetically similar) or autologous match (from an identical twin with the exact same DNA), and this is quite hard to find for many patients.
Advantages
There are several advantages of cord blood banking, including its non-invasive process, long storage life and higher rate of acceptance. Cord blood cells contain new, immature DNA, which means they are more likely to be effective than adult cells (i.e., bone marrow cells).
In addition, there is no controversy regarding cord blood cells because neither embryos nor fetuses are used or destroyed in the collection process. Furthermore, because cord blood stem cells have 10 times more regenerative cells than bone marrow DNA, you can use less blood to treat patients with Parkinson's.
Disadvantages
Although full-size adult trials have been successful, cord blood stem cells are generally most successful when used to treat children or smaller adults. The amount of stem cells in cord blood simply isn't enough for most grown adults, which limits the effectiveness on older Parkinson's candidates.
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