Americord Registry Applauds New Research Into The Use Of Cord Blood To Prevent The Onset Of Type 1 Diabetes

New York – Americord Registry, a leader in the advancement of cord blood banking and a pioneer in the industry, today announced its support of a new study into the use of cord blood to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes. The study, which is being conducted by The Children's Hospital at Westmead's Kids Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, will investigate whether infusions of cord blood can prevent the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and protect children from developing diabetes.

Associate Professor Maria Craig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Westmead Children's Hospital and the leader of the study, says that studies already conducted with animals have shown that this therapy does prevent type 1 diabetes and that there is a very strong scientific basis for undertaking the study with the children.

"Medical therapies using stem cells from cord blood have tremendous and increasing potential to treat previously incurable diseases," said Martin Smithmyer, President and CEO of Americord Registry. "This new study in Australia is another example of the focus and dedication the international medical community is bringing to the development of new stem cell therapies."

In the 28 years since the first stem cell transplant was performed, scientists and researchers have developed an increasing number of stem cell therapies to treat dozens of life threatening and debilitating diseases. Stem cells from cord blood are already in use in medical therapies for more than 80 diseases and conditions, including some a child may be more susceptible to as a result of family medical history.

Americord offers the ability to preserve stem cells from three sources: the blood from a newborn's umbilical cord, from the cord tissue, and from placenta tissue. Early next year the company will offer a fourth opportunity with its proprietary CordAdvantage product, which extracts stem cells from the cord blood found in the placenta.

About Americord Registry
Americord Registry is a leader in the advancement of umbilical cord blood, cord tissue and placenta tissue banking. Americord collects, processes, and stores newborn stem cells from umbilical cord blood for future medical or therapeutic use, including the treatment of more than 80 blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia and leukemia. Founded in 2008, Americord is registered with the FDA and operates in all 50 states. The company's laboratories are CLIA Certified, accredited by the AABB and comply with all federal and state guidelines and applicable licenses. Americord is headquartered in New York, NY. You may visit Americord Registry's website at www.cordadvantage.com for more information. You may also find Americord Registry on Facebook and follow the company on Twitter.