Hello there everyone!
Hay so many things to do, so little time. I bet you always hear that! And that's always my everyday dilemma. We always start the day early, wake up early. Prepare for work and be away from home for like 12 hours a day.
I know I always say how hard it is being a working mom. And believe it, for 4 years I never get used to it. Haha! At first I thought, when Matthew grows up, I will have more time. But definitely I am wrong because Matthew now is a school boy. And of course I need to guide and teach him. So if I am Chemist at day time, I am a Mommy teacher at night naman.
Teaching Matt will require me at least an hour every night. It also requires more patience as Matt always like to ask things. I am just glad he never complains when I tell him it's study time already. I never regret giving him my time because it always pay off. He gets high scores and high grades, and aside from that I can see he can easily understands his lessons. Speaking of lessons, I can't remember we already take those when I was in Kinder. He's just 4 now and I was 6 then, and he's already studying equal or not equal, greater than or less than, and so on.
So sorry for a long intro and it has nothing to do with what I want to share with you right now. Maybe you already heard about Cordlife? Let me share an article about how an umbilical cord blood stem cells can possibly cure Leukemia.
From the Press Release Kit:
A video of a mother from Quebec fighting against leukemia
recently went viral in YouTube. Her desperate plea – to find a compatible
umbilical cord donor, the only hope for her second battle against leukemia[i].
Mai Duong, a 34-year-old Vietnamese-Canadian mother is
among the many patients diagnosed of cancer every four minutes. Leukemia - cancer
of the body’s tissues that are responsible for forming blood including bone marrow
and lymphatic system is among the top eight common cancers in the Philippines.
In 2005, the Philippine Cancer Society recorded 4,202 new
cases, 2,243 of which is among males with 3.9 percent incidence rate while
1,959 cases were recorded among females with an incidence rate of 3.6 percent.
With an average 5-year survival rate of only 25 percent, an estimated 3,498 deaths are expected with 1,863 in men
and 1,635 among women[ii].
Normally, the body produces and grows the white blood
cells in an orderly way. But for people with leukemia, their bone marrow
produces white blood cells that are abnormal either in number or function.
The symptoms of
the disease varies from fever or chills, persistent fatigue and weakness,
frequent or severe infections, unexpected weight loss, swelling of lymph nodes,
bruising or bleeding easily, frequently recurring nosebleeds, visible red
spots, bone pain or tenderness and excessive sweating at night[iii].
Beyond the physical pain that leukemia patients experience,
they are also susceptible to emotional stress and anxiety. And when it comes to
the trauma and emotional pain, the patient’s family is no exception. Studies showed that anxiety and posttraumatic
stress are common to leukemia patients’ families during and even after
suffering from the condition. Researchers found that childhood cancer treatment
has a long-term impact on parents and families, thus, highlighting the need for
psychological interventions during and after the cancer treatment[iv].
But what gives the patients and
their families a sense of hope for recovery is the life-saving effects of stem
cell transplantation, including that from umbilical cord blood.
Like Duong, Ryan Foo is also among
the many leukemia victims who conducted a nationwide search for bone marrow
stem cells. Foo
suffered from leukemia at a very young age and found hope of recovery after his
baby sister, Rachel was born. Rachel’s cord blood was collected and was
processed and stored in Cordlife’s cord blood banking facility. Ryan has been
in remission following the successful transplantation in Singapore in 2002[v].
In 2005, cord blood transplantation for a 9-year-old
female diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia
was performed according to Philippine Journal of Medicinev. The family
had to search for one year before finding a cord blood unit in Japan that
matches their precious child. The cost of the cord blood unit was about
six-folds of how much it would have cost had they banked the child’s cord blood
vi.
Recent researches have
proven the life-saving effects of umbilical cord blood stem cells in many
life-threatening diseases including leukemia. Comparing cord-blood transplants
with current standard leukemia therapies, two new studies indicated that
leukemia patients who require stem cell transplants but do not have bone marrow
donors now have greater chances to proceed with the treatment through the use
of umbilical cord blood cells.
“Cord blood opens
the door to provide transplants to thousands of leukemia patients who otherwise
would not get a transplant,” said Mary J. Laughlin, M.D., of the Case
Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland, in an article published by the
Journal of National Cancer Institute[vi]i.
Laughlin, lead author of one of the two studies in cord
blood technology published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also added
that cord blood has two important advantages on bone marrow diseases.
With cord blood, there is faster identification of
appropriate units for transplant. This is important since some conditions
require urgent delivery and thus, delays are something medical providers aim to
eliminate. Also, with cord blood, patients are more likely to get acceptable
transplants because of the higher possibilities in the matching of donors.
Laughlin also added in the same report that they are suggesting
the expansion of national cord blood registries to improve access to cord blood
and eventually provide patients with more chances of getting matches.
“The more [cord
blood samples] we bank the better will be the match and the availability to patients,”
Eliane Gluckman, M.D., of the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, said in the same
article.
Gluckman also confirmed the possibility of cord blood transplantation
in adults and noted its growing development in cancer research.
She said that “many transplant centers thought it was not
possible to use cord blood cells in adults. Now, more people will become aware
of this possibility.”
In addition to this, a breakthrough in cancer research
was recently seen through a study led by the Loyola Medical Center oncologists.
They found that growing cord blood stem cells in a laboratory before proceeding
with transplant will significantly improve the survival and boost the number of
patients who could benefit from it.[vii]i
Today, Filipinos can now benefit from these breakthroughs
in cancer study by banking their babies’ stem cell-rich cord blood. This
unique, highly-advanced service is now available in the country through Cordlife
Philippines’ cord blood banking service which helps parents protect their child
from the dangers of life-threatening diseases including leukemia.
“Stem cells are at the forefront of one of the most
riveting and revolutionary areas of medicine today. While this could be a leap
from the traditional treatments available, my fellow doctors and I do recognize
cord blood stem cell transplantation as a standard form of treatment for
various blood disorders, specially leukemia” Dr. Arvin Faundo, Medical
Director of Cordlife Philippines.
With continuous advancement in cord blood stem
cell applications, it’s imperative that parents seize the one chance to save
their baby’s cord blood. For more information, download Cordlife’s FREE
infopack @ www.cordli or call them at (02) 332 – 1888.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/
[i]Retrieved from: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/09/16/cord_blood_donor_found_for_quebec_woman_battling_leukemia_for_second_time.html
[ii] 2005 Philippine Cancer Facts and Estimates, Philippine Cancer
Society. Retrived from: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/151649/news/leukemia-facts
[iii] Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/leukemia/basics/symptoms/con-20024914
[iv] Retrieved from: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ccp/65/1/120/
[v]iI For details, refer to Cordlife
Schedule of Fees.
[vi]i Umbilical Cord Blood Offers Another
Option for Leukemia Patients. Damaris Christensen. Journal of the National
Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 4, © Oxford University Press 2005. Retrieved
from: http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/97/4/253.full
[vii]i Retrieved from: http://loyolamedicine.org/newswire/news/multiplying-stem-cells-umbilical-cord-blood-donations-increases-survival-leukemia-and
