Pregnant women sometimes have questions or concerns regarding
umbilical cord blood donation. Two common questions are: Can
their infant’s cord blood be used to benefit MS research?
Another question: Is it worthwhile to “bank” their infant’s
umbilical cord blood for the benefit of a family member who
might need the umbilical stem cells for future treatment of
their MS? The following points have been identified through
investigation of this topic. Cord Blood in Research Research is
being conducted using cord blood cells to analyze immune
response and other factors that may eventually shed light on
causes and treatment of MS. However, at present there is no
treatment available involving cord blood cells. Nor do we know
of any sites that are looking for cord blood specifically for MS
research. Bone marrow transplantation, also called hemopoietic
stem cell transplantation, is under investigation for the
treatment of severe forms of multiple sclerosis. The long-term
benefits of this experimental procedure have not