The blood which is found inside the placenta and umbilical cord i.e. the cord connecting the placenta to the embryo is the blood responsible for each and every growth of the embryo as it contains stem cells that are the building blocks of immunity system and blood.
These stem cells are placed inside bone marrow in case of adults and are responsible for creation of Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells and Platelets.
However there are three sources of these stem cells:-
1} Bone Marrow
2} Cord blood and embryonic
3} Peripheral blood (circulating in the body) or placental blood.

However cord blood is far more superior to the bone marrow as the collection of bone marrow is quite a difficult and painful task.

There is also a difference between cord blood and placental blood which is that cord blood is collected painlessly at the time of child birth from the umbilical cord i.e. attaching cord of child to mother. This cord is cut and the blood inside it is collected and stored. The process is simple and painless. However the placental or embryonic blood is collected from the fertilized eggs inside the womb of the pregnant women when the embryo is in its early stage of development. The amount of flow of placental blood is 600 cm3 per minute and the pressure in which it flows in the arteries is 70mm Hg. At intervillous space the placental blood exchange per minute by 2-3 times, and also the pressure of placental blood reduced to only 10 mm Hg

The embryonic or placental stem cells are considered superior than even the cord blood by the experts due to its superior abilities and quality. However, there are certain controversies and opposition from certain people with regard to ethical and moral grounds.

Both the placental as well as cord blood have unique quality of restoring the bone marrow. It can be done even when there is not as strictly close match as required in case of bone marrow transplants.

This is the reason these cord blood and placental blood are now being preserved and are later being used for the treatment of the baby, his siblings and his descendents as well as strangers also subject to the medical match. This is the reason the preservation of these bloods is being encouraged and it is expected to cause a significant ease in the treatment of diseases like cancer, Fanconi’s anemia, leukemia, acute leukemia, aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia. Apart from this these cord blood or placental blood stem cells are recently now also being used in the treatment of various other diseases, such as:
Chronic myeloid, brain tumors, small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, thymoma, lymphoma, myelodysplasia, thalassemia major, myeloma, hereditary immunodeficiency, storage disorder, histiocytosis and also lymphohistiocytosis, hemoglobinopathias and other histiocytic disorders.

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