Posted by Steve Riddle on March 01, 2000 at 13:10:27:
In Reply to: Stem cells to reverse diabetes posted by Valerie Gootee on February 29, 2000 at 15:55:24:
It is still too early to tell. The tests so far have just been on mice, and there are *lots* of ways to cure these little guys. Whether these results will be as positive when they get to bigger animals remains to be seen. There are already other technologies that are further along than that. One problem with this avenue of research is that it would only benefit a very small percentage of diabetics (unless another source for stem cells is found - in which case the cord-blood would not be needed).
The critical thing for your daughter-in-law is that there is a very limited window of opportunity for this decision. If she saves the cord blood it *might* be useful, if she doesn't, then it can't. We saved our daughter's cord blood on the theory that it might be needed at some time in the future, and we'd never have a second chance. (Obviously we had no idea that she would become diabetic at that point.) Mind you, there was a non-profit agency available in Toronto so it was a bit cheaper than in the states.
Steve