Thursday, June 3, 2010

Reasons to donate cord blood


Cord Blood Banking is one of the hottest issues over the past decade. Why is cord blood collection so popular?

What Is So Special About The Umbilical Cords Blood?

Your baby's umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells. These stem cells work like a factory. They manufacture fresh blood cells wherever they are transplanted. They have the power to create red blood cells and the platelets that can ward off diseases, which the patient’s current blood cells have been unable to do. You are injecting the patient with those same cells that created him.

Can't This Be Done With The Bone Marrow Transplants Too?

Yes, stem cells are found in bone marrows too. However, many hurdles can affect the chances of the patient being cured using bone marrow cells. Leukemia patients need bone marrow transplants so that new blood cells can be created. For this, the patient needs a donor whose tissues and cells match his own. This is at times quite hard to find.

Besides, bone marrow has lesser concentration of stem cells compared to cord blood which usually 10 times more. If the patient’s own stem cell cord blood was preserved, he does not need to find a perfect donor. He would be his own personal savior.

How Do I Collect My Baby's Umbilical Cord Blood?

Collecting your baby's stem cells is quite easy. All you need to do is decide that you want to do it while you are pregnant. Yes, cord blood-banking needs planning. Register yourself at a good cord blood bank. A few tests might be done, if the doctors suspect something is not right. Collecting the umbilical cord blood does not hurt your baby. Neither does it hurt you. The blood is taken from your umbilical cord after your baby is delivered and is disconnected from the umbilical cord. The specialist drains the placenta and the umbilical cord and stores the blood in vials or special bags. The entire process usually takes 10 to 15 minutes. Please note that if there is any complication during the delivery, the doctors can choose not to go ahead with the process.

Is Cord Blood Banking Free?

Unfortunately, you cannot save your baby's blood free of cost. You have to be mentally prepared to pay considerable amount on a regular basis. However, looking at the benefit your child or may be his siblings may get 20 years down the line, you can definitely think of it as an insurance premium. After all, nothing is more precious than your child's health. You however, also have the option of donating cord blood.

We Are Living In The Era of Toxicity


Is it really possible that a child could be born into this world already fighting the effects of toxic chemicals?

I didn’t truly believe it until I experienced it for myself.

As it stands, both of my children were born carrying a toxic burden (albeit a very small one in their cases).

It wasn’t evident to me by the outward appearance of symptoms or any “diagnosable” condition. I had to search for it.

In fact, both of my children were born VERY healthy and continue to express a high level of health to this day. They were both born naturally, my wife took no medications of any kind during pregnancy, childbirth or while she was nursing. In fact, she had rarely taken any medications for the 8 years we had been together before we had kids. Yet, both children carried levels of toxicity that were detectable by energetic testing – using Applied Kinesiology and BioResonance Scanning.

As a Physician in the Natural Health arena I was shocked and couldn’t help but wonder how I could have let this happen. I mean, my wife and I are two healthy adults, we eat well and buy mostly organic foods, stay away from additives and preservatives, use natural toothpastes and deodorants and drink filtered water.

Isn’t that enough?

Well, unfortunately, that’s not even close to being enough.

What a rude awakening!

You see, there are a multitude of ways that we are exposed to toxins EVERY SINGLE DAY of our lives. The glass cleaner you keep under your kitchen sink – Toxic. The beautiful new carpet you just installed in your bedroom – Toxic. And that ever-so-fragrant air freshener you just plugged into your bathroom electrical socket – Toxic.

The list goes on and on.

In her book “Detoxify or Die” author Sherry Rogers states that there is no human being on the planet that is 100% free of toxicity. There is just too much exposure for our bodies to be able to process it all. Beyond that, many of the toxins we are exposed to on daily basis, including heavy metals, pthalates from plastics, PCB’s, pesticides, molds, chlorine, dioxins from chemical burnoff and VOC’s from paints, carpets and cleaning supplies are all capable of entering the blood stream of a pregnant woman and reaching the fetus through the umbilical cord.

Frightening thought isn’t it?

After making this realization, we made wholesale changes around the house, replacing cleaning supplies, cookware, plastics and personal care products. We also went started the necessary treatments and remedies to lessen our own personal toxic accumulation.

Even though we felt good to begin with, the results were dramatic.

My wife and I were more energized, could think more clearly, were less irritable and best of all, just felt happier! The kids weren’t as cranky, were easier to calm down, co-operated more and just seemed to be more chilled-out (as chilled out as little kids can be).

Research is now being conducted to address the connection between fetal toxin exposure and conditions such as Autism and ADHD. It is also believed that toxins could be a factor with the increasing trend of childhood asthma and allergies.

Many of these compounds are neurotoxins and have been linked to other conditions in adults such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Depression.

It could be decades, if not longer, until we see any significant change in environmental pollution, but there is already been a great deal of improvement in the quality of retail products available to consumers.

It’s important to remember that everything we put in or on our bodies (including clothing, soaps, hair coloring) could be adversely affecting normal cellular function and expression.

So, here are the action steps you can follow to address the growing concern of toxicity:

Step 1 – Limit your exposure.

The demand for more environmentally friendly and chemical free products has dramatically increased over the last 5 years.

It is much easier to find household cleaning products, personal care products, low VOC paints and carpets, preservative and additive free foods and plastic products that are much safer for you and your children.

Search out these products and replace what you are currently using with these safer alternatives. Many times, the newer, safer products actually perform better than what you were using before. The best place to find household products is at your local Health Food Store (ex. Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Green Acres here in Wichita). Most retail stores and grocery stores are even starting to carry their own brand of natural products.

You can also find many outstanding products at our Hansa Health Store from companies such as Young Living, Melaleuca and Weleda.

The rule of thumb is this: Don’t put anything on your body that you wouldn’t be willing to eat.

Step 2 – Evaluate your risk and current toxic level.

Visit us at the Hansa Center for Optimum Health where we can determine the type and level of toxicity you may be encountering.

We use the CRT Test (Computerized Regulation Thermography) as well as BioResonance Scanning to determine the cause of your health complaints and to determine what therapies and interventions would be best suited for you.

Alternatively, you could seek the help of a natural health physician that can use similar forms of testing and evaluation to address your bodies toxicity levels.

Step 3 – Devise an action plan to eliminate toxins and a maintenance plan to keep them gone.

There are many therapies that are useful in detoxifying the body, such as:

• The IonCleanse Cellular Detox Footbath

• Infrared Sauna, by HiTech Health

• Amethyst Crystal BioMat by Richway

• Colon Hydrotherapy

• Exercise

• Customized nutritional protocols

• Homeopathic remedies (Uriel Phamacy)

• Nutritive Cleanses, such as the Master Longevity Cleanse (from Dr. David Jernigan’s book “Beating Lyme Disease”)

It’s unlikely that toxins are going to completely disappear anytime soon (if ever), which is why it’s extremely important to be proactive and take responsibility for your health and the health of your loved ones.

Make the necessary changes in your lifestyle and seek the proper treatments to ensure the safety and well-being of your family.