About 10 years ago my brother and sister-in-law generously allowed us to "bank" their son's (our nephew's) cord blood at the time of his birth, for an indefinite future where the stem cells in the cord blood could have real therapeutic applications. I have at least one client, who have gone abroad for stem cell treatments, and claim very positive effects. We have been using Cord Blood Registry ("CBR") as the bank for the stem cells. I just received the following notice (see below) about possible research opportunities using cord blood to investigate therapies to address autism. Read the discussion in http://www.blisstree.com/autismvox/another-autism-treatment-stem-cell-therapy/ as a caution about stems cells as a current viable therapy. Nevertheless, I thought this notice would be worthwhile to share. We all need hope within the confines of safe and proven therapies.
Dear Families of Cord Blood Registry,
We
regularly receive questions from clients about the status of cord blood
stem research and autism and want to provide this update.
For
those of you who have a child with autism, you already know that it is
the most prevalent childhood developmental disorder. As you may have
seen in the news this month, a study published
in Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics' journal found that
the parent-reported autism prevalence rate was one in every 91 American
children. Another report expected later this year from the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) estimates that one in 100 children have been
diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by 8-years of age. This
is up from the 2007 estimated prevalence of one in 150. This new
estimate means that approximately 673,000 U.S. children have autism.
Autism
has been dubbed "an urgent public heath concern" by the CDC and it's no
surprise that hundreds of organizations are dedicated to supporting new
autism research. Despite this focus, we are not currently aware of any
active or planned clinical trials to treat autism with stem cells.
While there have been therapies proposed using cord blood stem cells
and anecdotal evidence from a few clinics outside of the U.S.
describing the use of stem cells to treat autism, none of these
treatments have been validated. Because the underlying cause or causes
of autism are not fully understood, researchers face significant
obstacles in developing research study models using stem-cell based
therapies.
However,
we at Cord Blood Registry believe we may be able to help advance
potential stem cell-based research for autism by taking an important
first step: identifying individuals who have access to their own cord
blood stem cells AND who have been diagnosed with an ASD. Based on the
most recent statistics, there could be more than 3,200 children with
ASD whose cord blood is stored with CBR. This is a substantial patient
population that could interest researchers.
If you
have a child diagnosed with a form of ASD and would like to be notified
in the event that a researcher is considering a trial and interested in
contacting you, we encourage you to register with CBR's Center for
Regenerative Medicine here: http://www.cordblood.com/regenerative-medicine/autism. Please note: no personal information will be shared without written permission from you.
We want
to emphasize that while we are not aware of any U.S. clinical trial in
development today, we are committed to keeping you informed about any
significant advancements in research or potential clinical trial
opportunities.
Sincerely,
Heather Brown, M.S., C.G.C.
Vice President, Scientific & Medical Affairs
Cord Blood Registry
The CBR Center for Regenerative Medicine is a
scientific research collaborative established by Cord Blood Registry —
in partnership with leading research institutions from around the world
— to promote greater scientific understanding of cord blood stem cells
and advance their use to treat life-threatening and life-limiting
injuries and diseases.