Stem cell storage
Lazaron Biotechnologies is Southern Africa's oldest fully fledged stem cell storage lab. We collect, process and store cord blood stem cells for families throughout Southern Africa.
Storing umbilical cord stem cells is an insurance policy for the unlikely event your child becomes ill with a condition treatable with cord blood stem cells.
What is a stem cell?
Stem cells are considered to be the basic building blocks of our body, blood, bones and are often referred to as ‘Master Cells’. Stem cells have the potential to become almost any other cell in the body like heart tissue, skin, blood and even bone.
What are stem cells used for?
Stem cell therapies and treatments are arguably the fastest growing sector in the medical industry today, and already curing diseases and disorders that we never dreamed possible.
Some of the fatal diseases and disorders are: The Leukemia’s, Lymphoma’s and other blood cancers, bone marrow disorders like Aplastic Anemia, Sickle Cell disease and the list goes on. But the really huge potential of stem cells lie within the future. Currently there are very promising results with heart muscle repair after heart attack, spinal cord repair, diabetes, arthritis, blindness and even open wounds like burns and frost bite.
Currently there is a misconception that stem cells can only be used to treat hereditary or genetic disorders but this is no longer the case as unfortunately we are all susceptible to heart attacks, diabetes, arthritis and obviously open wounds.
When should I consider storing my baby’s stem cells?
When you are pregnant you have a once in a life time opportunity to save your baby’s stem cells. Your baby growing inside you is full of pure, potent stem cells and unfortunately you get one chance to collect them.
Collection is a very simple, non-invasive and totally painless procedure for you and your baby. During your birth, once the baby is born the umbilical cord is clamped and cut as normal. Your Pediatrician will then ensure your baby is all well and your doctor will collect the blood that is left over from the umbilical cord and placenta. This is the most potent source of stem cells we have today. It is important to realize that this blood, umbilical cord and placenta is normally thrown away as medical waste.
Now that we have saved these precious stem cells, what happens next?
Your baby’s specimen is transported to our lab in Cape Town and processed immediately to maximise the cell viability. They are processed according to International Standards and Cryogenically frozen at -196Ë�
How long can you keep these cells in storage?
The current scientific results show that they can be kept indefinitely.
There are other sources of stem cells available like bone marrow and peripheral blood but none of them are as pure or a perfect match for your baby. Doing a bone marrow stem cell transplant to treat Leukemia is a very invasive procedure for both donor and recipient. It is very expensive and you run a high risk of rejection, infection and the chances of finding a donor are reported at 1:100 000.
In contrast to an umbilical cord stem cell transplant, the costs are less, the treatment is delivered intravenously, the risk of rejection and infection is much lower and if you have your children’s stem cells in storage you have a near perfect tissue match for your child.
The benefits of banking your baby’s stem cells for the future are endless and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Lazaron opened its doors in Cape Town in 2005. We are a publicly listed company on the JSE with over 600 private share holders.
For further information please contact us on:
Tel : 0860 STEMCELL ( 0860 783 62355)
Email : central@lazaron.co.za
Web : www.lazaron.co.za
