Natalie Curry – Cord Blood Saved My Life

I wrote my first blog about diabetes and cord blood on July 26, 2009! Everyday scientists get closer to finding a better way to treat diabetes. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services diabetes affects 25.8 million people of all ages or 8.3 percent of the U.S. population.

Cord Blood is the future of medicine, period. The decision to privately bank your baby’s cord blood should be a parent’s top priority.  With many breakthroughs already proven or in the testing phase, it will more than likely be used sometime within your child’s lifetime. Read more about the most recent news here:

http://www.cbs42.com/content/health/story/Stem-Cell-Therapy-Reverses-Diabetes/4c7rjLBHMkqcESdiscVlOA.cspx

Together we can save lives!

Natalie Curry

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I have always known that there was a special message about the event that saved my life. I witnessed my Mom speak at many different events, always with a clear message that cord blood saves lives.  This helped me grow into the person I am today and the passion I inherited from her to educate about the importance of stem cells.  There were several events that specially hold a dear place in my heart. One of them was in 1993, she was the spokes person for the National Children’s Leukemia Foundation.

For one of the events all of our family was flown to New York City. I had the opportunity to walk the red carpet for the first time and meet celebrities like Cindy Crawford, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Susan Lucci and many more. But, more importantly I had the chance to meet an amazing person that wanted to change the future for children affected with Leukemia. Steve Shor understands the pain involved in loosing a child to Leukemia, while waiting for a match to have a life saving bone marrow transplant. Instead of Steve moving on with his life, he made a decision to dedicate his future to help improve and prevent other families from suffering the same kind of sorrow he had to learn to live with. Cord Blood could have also saved his sons life.

Now almost 20 years later, Steve and his organization; NCLF have joined together with my personal choice of private cord blood bank; CorCell to work together to save lives.

I am very proud to be a part of this amazing team.

Together we can help save lives!

Natalie Curry

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When I read articles published by different organizations advising parents on the benefits of privately stored cord blood, I wonder how many of these professionals have ever been faced with a life threatening illness. Not to mention, feeling the regret of discarding something that was needed to treat them or a loved one!

Do they have a crystal ball they view life through? With over 70 diseases being treated, what doesn’t the future hold for adult stem cells? We already know that everyday stems cells are in the news with much promise for the future of medicine and scientific discoveries.

I urge all expectant parents to do their own research and consider the facts that you never know when you or your child might need theses priceless stem cells. By privately banking your child’s cord blood you have nothing to loose, by neglecting to, you have everything to loose.

It is very upsetting as a survivor to see cord blood be devalued; cord blood saved my life and the lives of many others. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend private cord blood storing. They say “parents should only consider it if a family member has a disease that could be treated with stem cell transplants”. The true facts that need to be considered, there are many diseases that don’t develop until later in life; therefore not storing the cord blood at birth because it may not be needed at the moment may be tempting fate. Also, what about the family that had 1 or 2 healthy children and didn’t privately store their baby’s cord blood but the last child has an illness that could have been cured with one of the healthy sibling’s cord blood?

If you have any questions regarding the benefits of cord blood banking, call CorCell’s help professionals @ 1-888-882-2673 or visit: http://www.corcell.com/; my personal choice for private cord blood banking.

Together we can help save lives!

Natalie Curry

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The birth of a new born is a Holy Blessing from God. As science progresses we try very hard to always ethically balance what God has given us to its fullest potential. Even though I was not raised Catholic I did attend a Parochial school, so my roots have been very spiritual. My parents conceived the first perfect matched sibling to provide me with a life saving cord blood transplant in 1989. Many ethical professionals questioned if this was morally correct? Always willing to do whatever it took to protect and save me, they defended their actions. They viewed me as their blessing from God. Believing it was within God’s power to give them the knowledge and match I desperately needed to survive!
This blog is dedicated to the first Vatican-sponsored conference held in mid-November 2011. This will help shine more light on the true value of adult stems cells found in priceless umbilical cord blood. A very powerful quote from Robin Smith, CEO of NeoStem;
“We want to create the road map of the future of adult stem cell research. We want to lay the groundwork of a collaboration between the patrons and the scientists to advance research and reduce human suffering. The long-and short-term initiatives around this partnership is that they can also help Church leader, politicians and educators to understand this cultural paradigm shift, regenerative medicine, that is arising in medicine. We hope that we can get not just Church leaders, but also minister of health and the scientific community to work together to advance the research and transfer stem-cell therapies safely from the laboratory to the clinic.”
Another quote from the same conference, Dr. Peter Hollands with the University of Westminster, London;
“In this conference we were shown a little video asking the general public about stem cells and every one of them – to a man – had no idea. Some people thought it was to do with vaccines disease. So public education is key and this is something I’ve worked on a lot over the years.”
Umbilical Cord Blood is a blessing from God! It is unique as the Child it created, don’t throw it in the trash. Educate yourself and help protect the future of your family and child.

Together We CAN Help Save Lives!

Natalie Curry

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Breathing and speaking is something we all take for granted! Not to mention we can’t survive without the ability to deliver oxygen to our lungs. This blog is dedicated to all of the patient’s who suffer from tracheal cancer or other dangerous condition affecting the windpipe! The treatment for this is extremely difficult and dangerous. Another sad reality, sometimes it is too late for standard surgery or therapy. That is what is beautiful about this new break thru using stem cells.

A 36 year old man from Africa was condemned to die, but luckily for him a professor of regenerative surgery from Sweden built an entirely synthetic and permanent windpipe from stem cells. There was no rejection by the patient’s immune system, because the cells used to seed the artificial windpipe came from the patient’s own body. This is the beginning of a new form of therapy that will only continue to grow.

Cord Blood is the richest source of adult stems cell and it discarded at birth as normal procedure. Educate yourself and others about the importance of saving your babies cord blood. These priceless stems cells are the future of medicine.

Together we can help save lives!

Natalie Curry

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year! It is special in many different ways and is the platform for the official Holiday Season to begin. So often, people forget to be thankful for priceless things in your life and that is your family. Money and material things come and go within your life but the irreplaceable commodities are the ones that you love and love you back. There is no price you can pay for health but you can do everything within your power to protect the future of your family. For many of you that will be reading this blog, I have had my most difficult year of my life. It has comes with my biggest challenge both medically and mentally. I will be reflecting and sharing with you my journey in my upcoming blogs. It has reminded me how very important family is and their unselfish dedication to see me thru. So, as we enter into this Holiday Season I ask you to stop and truly celebrate the things that money can’t buy, your loved ones. CorCell is my personal choice of private cord blood banks and they too are taking the opportunity to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving Season by offering an additional discount of $200 off enrollment. If you happen to be a member of one of CorCell’s Insurance Partners you can combine this discount with the standard $350 off for a total of $550. Call 1-888-882-2673 or visit www.CorCell.com to obtain more information and details of the dates available for this promotion. Life is priceless; so make sure to be prepared to protect the ones you love. Stems cells saves and improves lives, don’t throw them away.

Together We CAN Help Save Lives!

Natalie Curry

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It is no secret the value stem cells have in the various treatments for humans but now we are seeing them being used in the treatment of animals as well.  This is a gigantic step forward for veterinary medicine and for many pet owners who regard their fury friends as part of the family.  On July 19th, Bernie, the pit bull, was found by police officers stranded on a rooftop.  Bernie suffered third degree burns on his paw pads and spine.  Dr. Boyd Wagner, veterinarian and owner of the Wyomissing Animal Hospital, said, “I don’t think I’ve seen anything that bad in 25 years.”  Dr. Wagner decided to regrow Bernie’s paw pads with stem cells with the help of Celavet Inc., a California-based biotechnology firm that specializes in stem cell research in horses, cats, and dogs.

Bernie’s case was the first of its kind, using another animal’s stem cells to grow specialized types of cells.  Wagner said, “the stem cells increase the re-epitheliazation at a faster pace and a more uniform pace.”  Essentially, stem cells would be injected into Bernie’s pads to help heal at a quicker rate.  Stem-cell treatment in animals is a growing trend, hopefully sooner rather than later it will be available everywhere.

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Hair loss affects roughly 56 million people in the United States alone. There are many causes for hair loss including age, illness, stress, and hormones; all of which we will most likely encounter. It is nondiscriminatory; affecting men, women, and children. Until now treatment for hair loss was extremely expensive or most likely ineffective.

Thanks to a study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an innovative long term treatment is being developed through the use of stem cells.

The study focused on the stem cells that are responsible for the growth of hair follicles.  They discovered that in the case of balding, the stem cells that prompt the growth of hair had become inactive.  The study seeks to discover a way to reactivate the damaged stem cells initiating the regrowth of hair.  According to Dr. George Cotsarelis, Assistant Director of Dermatology a the University, the study shows that stem cell transplantation can be used as a hair loss treatment in the future.

These promising studies give hope to those who are dealing with hair loss for a multitude of reasons. WIth continued dedication and progressive thinking, hair loss will become a thing of the past.

Natalie Curry

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As discussed in my webinar with Dr. Kramer in late January, All Eyes on Cord Blood, stem cells from Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) are being used to treat debilitating eye and vision disorders in premature babies.

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding disorder that primarily affects premature babies. ROP is caused by an abnormal growth of blood vessels that damage the retina.  Every year about 15,000 babies are affected.  Two teams from the Centre for Vision and Vascular Science at Queen’s University Belfast are researching different methods of treatment for babies affected by ROP.  The team led by Dr. Derek Brazil is aiming their focus at the potential for stem cell treatments from the babies’ own UCB. Dr Brazil believes it may be possible to protect babies from ROP, and save their sight, by treating them with a special type of stem cell taken from their own umbilical cords. Dr. Brazil and his colleagues were awarded a two-year grant from children’s charity, Action Medical Research, to pursue this life changing work.

CorCell, A Cord Blood America Company, partners with many Insurance Institutions to provide important literature and discounts to their members encouraging them to understand the value of UCB. Visit their website to see if your Insurance Company is a current partner @ http://www.corcell.com/insurance-partners/ or call 1-888-882-2673.

Umbilical cord blood is continuously proving itself invaluable.  Don’t risk tossing it in the trash when you may need it for a treatment or cure.

Together We Can Help Save Lives,

Natalie Curry

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 I feel that cord blood transplants are more associated with children than adults. Today while reading an article about this topic I realized that this is a common misunderstanding.  It is often times more difficult to have success with adult cord blood transplants simply because of the amount of stem cells required. Doctors are now working on ways to increase the amount of stem cells found inside cord blood. This is a HUGE breakthrough! This makes  educational awareness of cord blood preservation even more  important since they can also be used for adult patients.

 A perfect or near perfect match is usually preferred for a Bone marrow transplant. For cord blood transplants however the match doesn’t need to be as close! Which makes finding a cord blood donor easier.  Since stem cells found in cord blood are the newest (youngest) form of  blood cell there are often times less complications. 

Every time a child is born even if they are healthy and have no immediate use for cord blood, it is still so important to store it! You never know who might need it in the future.

Together We CAN Help Save Lives,

Natalie Curry

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