Daniel Shays
05-22-2006, 01:50 AM
The article was pulled from the internet months ago but was rescued through google cache.
Key paragraphs:
The International Bone Marrow Registry in Holland says Jews often have a hard time finding matches because they historically lived in isolated communities, and today they are more genetically related to each other than to non-Jews. About 40 percent of Jewish patients cannot find bone marrow matches, Feinberg said.
"Jewish people can find genetic matches in Caucasian donations. It's not impossible. But it's extraordinarily unlikely," Feinberg said. "Your best chance of finding a match is someone who shares a similar ethnic ancestry. It doesn't mean it's impossible elsewhere, but your very best chance of finding that match is someone of similar ethnic or racial heritage because it's inherited, like the color of your eyes or the color of your hair."
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...milies.htm+%22 (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:mNULBLxdA6oJ:www.stemcellnews.com/articles/stem-cells-jewish-families.htm+%22)
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...mailedlink+%22 (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...mailedlink+%22)
Full article:
Campaign urges Jews to donate babies' blood for stem cell pool
By Lisa J. Huriash
Staff Writer
Posted June 21 2005, 2:41 PM EDT
For the Jewish community, it could mean saving lives for years to come.
A stem cell donor agency in Boca Raton is launching a campaign to encourage Jews throughout South Florida to donate their newborn babies' umbilical cord blood to be used to develop treatments for some cancers and blood disorders.
The agency, Gift of Life, said Jewish participation in national stem cell banks is so low that Jews are often unable to find stem cell treatments.
Stem cells can be retrieved from the umbilical cord after birth, then used to develop treatments that boost the immune system and replace unhealthy stem cells that have caused disease. Increasing the number of donors with similar ethnic backgrounds will increase the odds of a successful match.
"Jews are not well-represented in the national registries," said Jay Feinberg, executive director of Gift of Life. "By increasing the representation, we'll save the lives of Jewish patients."
In South Florida, the agency will start appealing to mothers-to-be at synagogues and Jewish organizations.
The effort follows an umbilical cord donation campaign started by Gift of Life in Brooklyn, N.Y., in late May. A second Brooklyn-based group, Kehila Cord, is also appealing to religious Jews for donations. That group is advertising in two high-profile national Jewish publications, urging Jews to donate -- and reminding them that, under strict Jewish laws that raise the question of when life begins, this process is "undisputedly permissible."
"This is the first time there is a concerted effort to target the Jewish community," said Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz, spokesman for Dor Yeshorim, which is running the Kehila Cord program in New York. "Normally, this blood would go into the garbage. [To donate], it's a mitzvah."
Experts say stem cells from umbilical cord blood can be used to treat cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, immune system disorders, inherited metabolic disease and sickle cell anemia. The procedure is still considered experimental, and recipients of cord blood must sign a consent form, said Dr. Gary Kleiner, a pediatric immunologist who works on umbilical cord research for the University of Miami.
Stem cells from umbilical cords don't evoke the same controversy and ethical considerations as embryonic stem cells; umbilical cords are usually discarded as medical waste.
The donation process is painless and noninvasive, unlike drawing stem cells from bone marrow, where donations come from the hip with a large needle. The umbilical cord blood is collected after birth by a doctor or nurse, sent off for tissue-typing and freezing, then offered for transplants or research.
With so many children born each day, researchers say there is great potential in using umbilical cord blood to save lives. "That's why the shift is going to cord blood," said Dwight Brunoehler, president and founder of Cryobanks International, a for-profit organization that collects donations nationwide. Experts said blacks, Asians, Hispanics, American Indians and Arabs need more donors, too, for the national banks, which can be commercial or nonprofit. Patrick Thompson, spokesman for the nonprofit, federally funded National Marrow Donor Program in Minneapolis, which facilitates umbilical cord transplants, said donations are grouped only by race, not ethnicity. Jews are considered Caucasian.
Among the 43,000 cord blood units on their registry, blacks make up 6.7 percent; Asians 5 percent; Caucasians 54 percent; Hispanics 11.5 percent; multiracial 11.8 percent; American Indians 0.2 percent; and Hawaiian-Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent. The remainder are unknown or declined to state ethnicity.
Still, all groups need to contribute, because "the more names in the registry, the greater chance there is for a match, whether you're from Swahili or Connecticut," Thompson said.
Cord blood donation is not like regular blood donations. Cord blood donors and recipients require close genetic matches for the procedures to be effective.
The International Bone Marrow Registry in Holland says Jews often have a hard time finding matches because they historically lived in isolated communities, and today they are more genetically related to each other than to non-Jews. About 40 percent of Jewish patients cannot find bone marrow matches, Feinberg said.
"Jewish people can find genetic matches in Caucasian donations. It's not impossible. But it's extraordinarily unlikely," Feinberg said. "Your best chance of finding a match is someone who shares a similar ethnic ancestry. It doesn't mean it's impossible elsewhere, but your very best chance of finding that match is someone of similar ethnic or racial heritage because it's inherited, like the color of your eyes or the color of your hair."
Brunoehler of Cyrobanks said his company is pushing to involve more minorities. There are now beefed-up efforts with the help of doctors to attract American Indian donors in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, he said. Cryobanks prints literature in Spanish to target Hispanics.
In January 2004, Illinois became the first state to require that hospitals offer pregnant women the chance to donate their umbilical cord blood for medical treatment or research. Maryland followed with similar legislation. Congress allocated $20 million last year to start the design of a national cord blood stem cell bank program.
Some parents spend money to save the umbilical cords for their children's own possible use.
Danielle Pappas of Plantation learned of the cord program when her doctor suggested it. She saved the cords for her children, who are 3 and almost 2, paying an upfront fee of about $1,500 and yearly storage of $99 per child.
"I just thought it was a good way to help my children in any way that I can and to know there was some type of insurance if something were to happen to them down the line," Pappas said. "I'd like to keep it [the cord blood] for as long as I can."
Some experts say the blood can be stored forever. Others say studies have shown stem cell units that have been frozen and stored for 10 years can be thawed and used effectively.
Illinois state Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, who wrote the Illinois bill, said some organizations try to persuade parents to spend as much as $1,400 to save the cord and, on average, charge about $100 for storage each year.
Dennis Ozer, 57, of Boston, agrees. The Jewish father of two was diagnosed with leukemia last August. Doctors wanted him to have a bone marrow transplant, but no donors could be found. Then Gift of Life helped find him two umbilical cord blood donations that matched. One came from Italy, the other from Germany.
His transplant was Dec. 15. He has been cancer-free ever since.
"I'm alive. It was do this or die," Ozer said in a telephone interview. "Before last year nobody had any clue about this. The thing about an illness, until you come face to face with it, you're ignorant or naive about these things."
Discussion on Jewish homemaking forum:
http://www.hashkafah.com/index.php?s...6&#entry248346 (http://www.hashkafah.com/index.php?showtopic=11059&st=0&p=248346&#entry248346)
Key paragraphs:
The International Bone Marrow Registry in Holland says Jews often have a hard time finding matches because they historically lived in isolated communities, and today they are more genetically related to each other than to non-Jews. About 40 percent of Jewish patients cannot find bone marrow matches, Feinberg said.
"Jewish people can find genetic matches in Caucasian donations. It's not impossible. But it's extraordinarily unlikely," Feinberg said. "Your best chance of finding a match is someone who shares a similar ethnic ancestry. It doesn't mean it's impossible elsewhere, but your very best chance of finding that match is someone of similar ethnic or racial heritage because it's inherited, like the color of your eyes or the color of your hair."
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...milies.htm+%22 (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:mNULBLxdA6oJ:www.stemcellnews.com/articles/stem-cells-jewish-families.htm+%22)
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...mailedlink+%22 (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...mailedlink+%22)
Full article:
Campaign urges Jews to donate babies' blood for stem cell pool
By Lisa J. Huriash
Staff Writer
Posted June 21 2005, 2:41 PM EDT
For the Jewish community, it could mean saving lives for years to come.
A stem cell donor agency in Boca Raton is launching a campaign to encourage Jews throughout South Florida to donate their newborn babies' umbilical cord blood to be used to develop treatments for some cancers and blood disorders.
The agency, Gift of Life, said Jewish participation in national stem cell banks is so low that Jews are often unable to find stem cell treatments.
Stem cells can be retrieved from the umbilical cord after birth, then used to develop treatments that boost the immune system and replace unhealthy stem cells that have caused disease. Increasing the number of donors with similar ethnic backgrounds will increase the odds of a successful match.
"Jews are not well-represented in the national registries," said Jay Feinberg, executive director of Gift of Life. "By increasing the representation, we'll save the lives of Jewish patients."
In South Florida, the agency will start appealing to mothers-to-be at synagogues and Jewish organizations.
The effort follows an umbilical cord donation campaign started by Gift of Life in Brooklyn, N.Y., in late May. A second Brooklyn-based group, Kehila Cord, is also appealing to religious Jews for donations. That group is advertising in two high-profile national Jewish publications, urging Jews to donate -- and reminding them that, under strict Jewish laws that raise the question of when life begins, this process is "undisputedly permissible."
"This is the first time there is a concerted effort to target the Jewish community," said Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz, spokesman for Dor Yeshorim, which is running the Kehila Cord program in New York. "Normally, this blood would go into the garbage. [To donate], it's a mitzvah."
Experts say stem cells from umbilical cord blood can be used to treat cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, immune system disorders, inherited metabolic disease and sickle cell anemia. The procedure is still considered experimental, and recipients of cord blood must sign a consent form, said Dr. Gary Kleiner, a pediatric immunologist who works on umbilical cord research for the University of Miami.
Stem cells from umbilical cords don't evoke the same controversy and ethical considerations as embryonic stem cells; umbilical cords are usually discarded as medical waste.
The donation process is painless and noninvasive, unlike drawing stem cells from bone marrow, where donations come from the hip with a large needle. The umbilical cord blood is collected after birth by a doctor or nurse, sent off for tissue-typing and freezing, then offered for transplants or research.
With so many children born each day, researchers say there is great potential in using umbilical cord blood to save lives. "That's why the shift is going to cord blood," said Dwight Brunoehler, president and founder of Cryobanks International, a for-profit organization that collects donations nationwide. Experts said blacks, Asians, Hispanics, American Indians and Arabs need more donors, too, for the national banks, which can be commercial or nonprofit. Patrick Thompson, spokesman for the nonprofit, federally funded National Marrow Donor Program in Minneapolis, which facilitates umbilical cord transplants, said donations are grouped only by race, not ethnicity. Jews are considered Caucasian.
Among the 43,000 cord blood units on their registry, blacks make up 6.7 percent; Asians 5 percent; Caucasians 54 percent; Hispanics 11.5 percent; multiracial 11.8 percent; American Indians 0.2 percent; and Hawaiian-Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent. The remainder are unknown or declined to state ethnicity.
Still, all groups need to contribute, because "the more names in the registry, the greater chance there is for a match, whether you're from Swahili or Connecticut," Thompson said.
Cord blood donation is not like regular blood donations. Cord blood donors and recipients require close genetic matches for the procedures to be effective.
The International Bone Marrow Registry in Holland says Jews often have a hard time finding matches because they historically lived in isolated communities, and today they are more genetically related to each other than to non-Jews. About 40 percent of Jewish patients cannot find bone marrow matches, Feinberg said.
"Jewish people can find genetic matches in Caucasian donations. It's not impossible. But it's extraordinarily unlikely," Feinberg said. "Your best chance of finding a match is someone who shares a similar ethnic ancestry. It doesn't mean it's impossible elsewhere, but your very best chance of finding that match is someone of similar ethnic or racial heritage because it's inherited, like the color of your eyes or the color of your hair."
Brunoehler of Cyrobanks said his company is pushing to involve more minorities. There are now beefed-up efforts with the help of doctors to attract American Indian donors in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, he said. Cryobanks prints literature in Spanish to target Hispanics.
In January 2004, Illinois became the first state to require that hospitals offer pregnant women the chance to donate their umbilical cord blood for medical treatment or research. Maryland followed with similar legislation. Congress allocated $20 million last year to start the design of a national cord blood stem cell bank program.
Some parents spend money to save the umbilical cords for their children's own possible use.
Danielle Pappas of Plantation learned of the cord program when her doctor suggested it. She saved the cords for her children, who are 3 and almost 2, paying an upfront fee of about $1,500 and yearly storage of $99 per child.
"I just thought it was a good way to help my children in any way that I can and to know there was some type of insurance if something were to happen to them down the line," Pappas said. "I'd like to keep it [the cord blood] for as long as I can."
Some experts say the blood can be stored forever. Others say studies have shown stem cell units that have been frozen and stored for 10 years can be thawed and used effectively.
Illinois state Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, who wrote the Illinois bill, said some organizations try to persuade parents to spend as much as $1,400 to save the cord and, on average, charge about $100 for storage each year.
Dennis Ozer, 57, of Boston, agrees. The Jewish father of two was diagnosed with leukemia last August. Doctors wanted him to have a bone marrow transplant, but no donors could be found. Then Gift of Life helped find him two umbilical cord blood donations that matched. One came from Italy, the other from Germany.
His transplant was Dec. 15. He has been cancer-free ever since.
"I'm alive. It was do this or die," Ozer said in a telephone interview. "Before last year nobody had any clue about this. The thing about an illness, until you come face to face with it, you're ignorant or naive about these things."
Discussion on Jewish homemaking forum:
http://www.hashkafah.com/index.php?s...6&#entry248346 (http://www.hashkafah.com/index.php?showtopic=11059&st=0&p=248346&#entry248346)