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PBSC can be
used to treat heart diseases, diabetic
ulcers, autoimmune diseases and in the
future even stroke, Parkinson’s and
Alzheimer’s. Keeping your PBSC at a
young age ensures that their efficiency
and availability is at its best when
needed at an older and/or diseased age.
PBSCs are hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs)
that are circulating in the blood. HSCs
circulate at low levels in the blood all
the time but can increase in number
dramatically when a person is treated
with certain cytokines (substances that
stimulate the bone marrow) such as G-CSF
(a natural factor also produced by your
body) or when hematopoietic (bone
marrow) recovery occurs following
chemotherapy. PBSC transplants tend to
engraft faster than bone marrow
transplants presumably because they have
greater a proportion of mature
progenitors. When patients hear and talk
about “stem cell transplants” they are
typically referring to peripheral blood
stem cell transplants. Stem Cells are
normally found in the bone marrow but it
is possible to move them out of the
marrow into the bloodstream so that they
can be collected easily.
Thai Stem
Cell Bank in Thailand uses an instrument
(called apheresis machine) that is also
used in the routine collection of blood,
found in all good blood donation centres
(regular blood donors will recognize
this machine). A blood collection needle
is placed in an arm vein, blood travels
to the machine and the stem cells are
separated from it. The stem cells are
collected in a collection bag while the
rest of the blood returns through a
second needle to the opposite arm. The
entire procedure requires approximately
2-4 hours, the length of a good movie.
After
collection, the stem cells are
immediately sent to our specialized
state-of-the-art stem cell processing
laboratory where the stem cells are
safely and securely cryo-preserved for
your future use.
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