Posted on 10/13/2010 7:21:47 AM PDT by GonzoII
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Nineteen-month-old Mason Shaffer has no qualms about somersaulting off a couch in his family's Pennsylvania home. He's equally fearless when exploring new surroundings or playing a spirited round of peek-a-boo with his mother.
It's a far cry from a year ago when Mason couldn't even sit up or roll over. Afflicted with malignant infantile osteopetrosis, a rare bone disease, Mason was severely underdeveloped and in significant pain. His life was saved through a transplant of adult stem cells obtained from umbilical-cord blood donated to a public collecting bank.
"He's cured," said Sarah Shaffer, Mason's mother. "He's completely normal. For me, it's exhilarating."
The Shaffer family was on hand at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center during an Oct. 11 news conference to celebrate the establishment of Maryland's first public umbilical-cord-blood banking program. Organizers believe it has the potential to save the lives of many children and adults like Mason.
Through the program, women giving birth at Mercy will be given the option of donating their babies' umbilical-cord blood to be listed on the National Marrow Donor Program registry for use by patients in need of life-saving transplants. Community Blood Services of New Jersey will receive the donated cord blood and bank it for future use throughout the country and around the world.
Adult stem cells contained in the blood can be used to treat more than 90 diseases, including many types of cancers and blood disorders.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnews.com ...
Catholic News.
Where is the MSM version of this ADULT stem cell story?
A nice counterpoint to the rotation that “the first human treated with embryonic stem cells” is getting of late in the deconstructionist media.
http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/index.html
“If you are not “banking” your cord blood, please, please donate it!”
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Who knows what discoveries a yet to come!
and it much less creepy than those people who show the dried up shriveled cord while going through baby books!! (no offense intended...just creeps me out!)
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