We all want to see successes and as many as possible, especially regarding the holy of holies - our children’s health. Like in any process, there are also successes in the final result. We collect them to show you, too, that hope always exists. It is important to maintain optimism even when everything seems to be closing in on us from all directions. As cord blood research progresses, more successes are recorded in various areas of disease and vulnerability. On our success page, we have gathered a collection of what is happening at home and stories overseas.
Success Stories In Israel
Cord Blood Preservation for Treating Children on the Autism Spectrum
Birth data in Israel indicates data in which 1 in 88 births will be diagnosed on the autism spectrum. An innovative cord blood treatment that began years ago as research at Duke University by Prof. Kurtzberg and yielded encouraging results regarding functional improvement among children led many parents to examine this line of treatment.
Cord Blood Preservation for Treating Children with Cancer
With the help of umbilical cord blood, children can be saved from blood and other types of cancer. At the age of six months, they found out that Libi Riesen has an aggressive and rare cancer with very low chances of survival.
Amit Kadosh was afflicted with leukemia and urgently required a bone marrow transplant. Amit underwent a transplant of stem cells derived from the umbilical cord that saved her life.
Thanks to cord blood, all the burn wounds and blemishes created on Libi’s small body due to the high dose chemotherapy she underwent - are all healed, even before her immune system was activated.
Today Amit is an IDF soldier and completely healthy. Libi is also completely healthy and enjoying normal development like any young girl.
Prof. Arnon Nagler, president of the Hemato-Oncology Center at the Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center, explains, “With the help of cord blood, children can be saved from blood cancer and other types of cancer.”
"From autism with moderate function, my son is currently on the borderline of the norm," says Shira Reiner about her six-year-old son Nebo, who was diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Nevo and other children participated in the cord blood study at the Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center... Since he first received the cord blood about a year and a half ago, there has been a huge improvement in his daily functioning. "Nevo was defined as having moderate functioning autism. He started the study when he was partially out of diapers, suffering from selective eating and limited speech ability. Before this process, Nevo found it hard to speak and struggled with motor actions such as climbing, walking, and running. We are talking about a child who did not sleep and could not concentrate. A child who could not get along in the world," his mother recounts. "Today, he is quite close to the norm."
For the full article, go to Ynet
Success Stories Around the World
The Concern Regarding What Will Be When He Is Older - No Longer Exists
In the first year of his life, Levi Motsnyy was diagnosed on the autism spectrum. His parents, Lovie and Serge, saw their child live in his world without the ability to communicate. Thanks to a cord blood unit they decided to keep at his birth, they could join a study on improving the functioning of children on the autism spectrum and a program that includes tailored therapeutic activities. Throughout the year of the study, there were major changes in his condition, and Levi, already an elementary school pupil, now communicates, is completely independent, and enjoys a rich social network.
The biggest fear of his parents regarding his life when they would no longer be able to care for him - has been removed, and the family is enjoying a healthy and normal life.
Since She Has Participated in the Cord Blood Study - No One Believes that Our Daughter is on the Autism Spectrum
Just before age two, Grace Gregory's parents noticed all kinds of strange behavior from Grace, like lots of hand movements, shouting, and kicking. Daily life was a struggle. Three months after her second birthday Grace was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.
In a study conducted in 2015 at Duke University under the direction of Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, Grace was invited to participate in the research together will 24 additional children that they too are on the spectrum. The children received a unit of cord blood, and an improvement in their behavior was observed as early as six months after receiving the unit. Some children made great progress in language and communication, and the number of extraneous movements decreased.
Grace's parents point out that until she participated in the study, her autism controlled at least 75% of their day. Since the study, autism affects them for up to 10% of their day.
"The best feedback we get is when we meet new people who don't even notice that Grace is on the spectrum and wouldn't have known if we hadn't told them about it," her mom concluded.