Despite the fact that the pandemic is over, the study and the results are of great importance for health care professionals offering counseling, authorities issuing recommendations, and above all, for anyone who will become pregnant in the future, says Mikael Norman.
Cord blood banking involves the collection, processing, and storage of cord blood for potential future use. While it offers the possibility of treating certain medical conditions, the cost can be significant, including initial fees and ongoing storage costs. The likelihood of needing the stored cord blood is relatively low, which raises questions about the cost-effectiveness of the investment. However, for families with a history of certain diseases or those looking for peace of mind, the potential benefits may outweigh the costs. The decision ultimately depends on individual circumstances and financial considerations.
- Cord blood banking involves collection, processing, and storage costs.
- Potential to treat certain medical conditions.
- Significant upfront fees and ongoing storage costs.
- Low likelihood of needing the stored cord blood.
- Cost-effectiveness is questioned.
“COVID-19 is still present in society and is probably something we will have to deal with for a long time. It is therefore very important for the one hundred thousand women who become pregnant every year in Sweden, and the 130 million in the world, to know that vaccination with mRNA-vaccines against COVID-19 is safe for their babies. We found no increased risks, if anything, infants to vaccinated women had lower risks for some severe outcomes.”
A treatment to move blood from the umbilical cord into an infant’s body may provide a safe option for preterm infants born after 28 weeks who need rapid support, suggests a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. The procedure, called umbilical cord milking, involves gently squeezing the cord between the thumb and forefinger and pushing the blood into the newborn’s abdomen.
Researchers followed the children up to the age of eight years and recorded whether any of them developed asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema or food allergies. They also accounted for factors that are known to influence these conditions, such as the children’s family medical history and whether their parents smoked.
Researchers found an average of 0.8 microgram of cadmium per litre (μg/L) in the mothers’ blood and an average of 0.5 μg/L in cord blood.
The results suggest that higher levels of cadmium found in babies’ umbilical cord blood (above 0.7 μg/L) were linked to a possible increased risk of asthma of around 24%, compared to lower levels (below 0.3 μg/L), and a likely increase in the risk of food allergies of around 44%. Higher levels of manganese in the mothers’ blood (above 1.1μg/L) were also linked to a possible rise in the risk of eczema, compared to lower levels (below 0.5 μg/L). Eczema is known risk factor for developing asthma.
Professor Annesi-Maesano added: “We know from previous research that different types of heavy metals can affect different organs in the body. Our study suggests that exposure to cadmium in the womb could have a role in increasing the risk of asthma and allergies in children.
“Our study doesn’t tell us why this might be the case, but it could be that cadmium is interfering with babies’ developing immune systems and we think this can have an impact on their allergic reactions in childhood.
Their research has confirmed that valproic acid, a drug combatting epilepsy, brings an increased risk of spina bifida, a birth defect in which a baby’s spinal cord doesn’t develop properly. Women who rely heavily on this drug are now strongly advised against becoming pregnant.
It took decades for warnings about valproic acid’s effect on unborn babies to trickle out to the medical community after problems were first identified in the early 1980s. Studies from many countries, along with data on animal experiments, were needed to change medical advice and it took years for the important information to reach doctors and patients.
But Dr. Loane and her colleagues have also shown that another anti-epileptic drug, Lamotrigine, does not appear to be associated with cleft palates in babies if it is taken during the first three months of pregnancy. This appears to contradict earlier research in the US.
‘We did a five-year follow-up study, and we never found an increased risk of orofacial cleft relative to other malformations,’ Dr. Loane explained. Compared with valproic acid, she says there’s a lower risk of congenital anomalies associated with Lamotrigine.
‘But more research is needed.’
With this sort of data-orientated approach, together with new statistical methods and technological innovations, it will be easier to identify any risks associated with medications and get information to patients much more quickly, according to Prof. Nordeng.
It can currently take decades for new advice about drugs for pregnant women to be issued – as was the case with valproic acid – but she believes that could be reduced to just two to three years.
‘These are very, very important findings from a public health perspective,’ said Prof. Nordeng.
Gestational diabetes may increase the risk of blood vessel dysfunction and heart disease in offspring by altering a smooth muscle protein responsible for blood vessel network formation. Understanding of the protein’s function in fetal cells may improve early detection of disease in children. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Cell Physiology.
Gestational diabetes, a state of prolonged high blood sugar during pregnancy, affects approximately 7 percent of pregnant women. Uncontrolled gestational diabetes may result in high blood pressure during pregnancy or in premature birth or stillbirth. Previous research has found that levels of a protein called transgelin are higher in offspring of women with gestational diabetes. Transgelin is found in the endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) that line the walls of blood vessels. Transgelin regulates cell migration, a process involved in wound healing and building blood vessel networks. A baby’s umbilical cord blood is rich in ECFCs; dysfunction of these cells that occurs in the womb may play a role in long-term blood vessel health and increase the risk of children developing heart disease later in life.
Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine studied the effects of elevated transgelin levels on cord blood ECFCs. Cord blood samples taken at the time of birth from women with gestational diabetes were compared to a control group without pregnancy complications. Cord blood ECFCs do not typically contain high levels of transgelin. However, the samples taken from the umbilical cord blood of the gestational diabetes group showed higher protein levels and increased dysfunction of the blood vessels during formation. Decreasing transgelin in the diabetes-exposed cells “significantly improved initial [blood vessel] network formation, ongoing network stabilization and cell migration,” the research team wrote.