blood bank
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008
blood bank site or mobile unit for collecting, processing, typing, and storing whole blood , blood plasma and other blood constituents. Most hospitals maintain their own blood reserves, and the American Red Cross provides a nationwide collection and distribution service. The Red Cross collects about 50% of the blood for the nation's blood banks. The Food and Drug Administration licenses blood banks.
Whole blood may be preserved for up to 21 days without losing its usefulness in blood transfusions ; an anticoagulant is added to prevent clotting. Blood plasma, the fluid portion of the blood, may be frozen and/or dried and stored indefinitely. Blood and donors are screened for hepatitis , AIDS , malaria , and other infectious diseases. The potential risk of acquiring AIDS or hepatitis through transfusions has made it a common practice among patients anticipating surgery to "bank" their own blood before it is needed.
Many blood banks also have facilities for apheresis , bone marrow donations, and related procedures. Some centers save umbilical cord blood (blood that is especially rich in stem cells ) for use in treatments; however, the cost of preparing and storing such blood is much higher than that of normal blood. Sometimes parents store their newborn's cord blood at a private cord blood bank in case the child has need of it, but the use of one own's cord blood is ineffective or undesirable in many diseases where such blood is used as a treatment.
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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research
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'Biological Insurance' for Your Baby; Experts Debate the Value and Ethics of Banking Umbilical Cord Blood to Collect Stem Cells
The Washington Post; 9/12/2000; Karen D. Brown; 2125 words
; Lori Lange was pregnant with her first child when she started browsing the Internet for deals on strollers and bassinets. Instead, she came across information about a baby accessory that caught her by surprise: her own child's umbilical cord blood. Traditionally, the placenta and umbilical cord
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Umbilical cord blood bank set up
New Straits Times; 9/23/2002; Azura Abas; 460 words
; Umbilical cord blood bank set up Byline: Azura Abas Edition: Main/Lifestyle; 2* Section: Nation KLANG, Sun. - A national umbilical cord blood bank has been set up, Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said today. The Cabinet approved this on July 1. He said blood from the umbilical cord is rich in
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 "The Capital Times (Madison, WI)")
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CORD BLOOD BANKING OFFERS PEACE OF MIND PARENTS PAY FOR THE SERVICE.(FRONT)
The Capital Times (Madison, WI); 4/25/2002; Welch, Lynn; 1162 words
; Byline: Lynn Welch The Capital Times Bill Paul stresses that banking a baby's umbilical cord blood is not life insurance. There are no guarantees of success when treating an illness with transplanted stem cells extracted from this blood. Yet the spokesman for CBR Systems Inc., one of about a dozen
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NMDP to invest $8 million to expand its cord blood initiative.(National Marrow Donor Program)
Transplant News; 2/16/2004; 376 words
; The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Board of Directors has approved a plan to invest $8 million in expanding its cord blood initiative in order to facilitate more life-saving transplants. NMDP said in the press release the funds will be used to increase the number and diversity of cord blood
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 "The Record (Bergen County, NJ)")
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GIFT OF LIFE: UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD
The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 11/16/1997; MARY AMOROSO; 669 words
; MARY AMOROSO The Record (Bergen County, NJ) 11-16-1997 GIFT OF LIFE: UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD By MARY AMOROSO Date: 11-16-1997, Sunday Section: LIFESTYLE Edition: All Editions -- Sunday Column: THE PRESSURED PARENT When Jackie Backhaus of Waldwick gives birth later this month, she is planning to donate
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Cord blood bank to help the kids
New Straits Times; 10/6/2002; Yong Tiam Kui; 602 words
; Cord blood bank to help the kids Byline: Yong Tiam Kui Edition: New Sunday Times; 2* Section: Science Memo: (STF) - The National Blood Centre began collecting cord blood in July. The cord blood collection is intended to support the Health Ministry's paediatric bone marrow transplant programme,
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Is umbilical-cord blood worth saving? Extraction loaded with stem cells, but critics of move say use unlikely.(Science/Health)
The Washington Times; 11/2/1997; Fagan, Amy; 650 words
; The Zucchi family is providing for their daughter Alessandra's future by investing in a bank - a blood bank that preserves her umbilical-cord blood, which could save her from cancer someday. We are willing to pay insurance for our house and our cars, said Samantha Zucchi, whose 13-month-old
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Parents banking on storage of umbilical cord blood
Indianapolis Business Journal; 10/3/2005; Donhardt, Tracy; 965 words
; Blood from the umbilical cord of a baby expected to be born in Indianapolis later this month will be collected after her birth and saved for her 5-year-old sister, who has been diagnosed with cancer. The stem cells extracted from the baby's umbilical cord blood might someday save the life of her
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Medical center launches umbilical cord blood bank
Honolulu Star - Bulletin; 7/22/1998; Altonn, Helen; 592 words
; Eight-year-old Jordy Serwin wrote a little note to President Clinton asking, "Please tell people to save kids' cord blood so people like me have what they need to get well." The child was able to deliver his letter in person to Clinton in Washington, D.C., after going to the Johns Hopkins
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More families banking cord blood
Sunday Gazette-Mail; 8/31/2003; Michelle Saxton; 778 words
; When Robin and Tim Roach's son was born last August, they had his umbilical-cord blood saved and sent to a private lab about 2,000 miles away for storage. "We hope he never needs it," Robin Roach said as she sat with her husband and Collin in their Cross Lanes home. "It's almost like an insurance
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Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses
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blood bank
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
... Most blood donations are separated into components, which can be frozen and stored longer than whole blood and used by multiple patients. In hemapheresis, large amounts of one component can be separated from a single donor's blood and the rest returned to the donor. Before World War I, a physician had to ...
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Blood Donation and Registry
Gale Encyclopedia of Surgery: A Guide for Patients and Caregivers
... from whole blood. About 34,000 units per day, for example, are transfused as red cells. Whole blood and blood components are used in various ways to meet the clinical needs of recipients. Whole blood is sometimes used to replace blood volume when a significant amount of blood has ...
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Artificial Blood
How Products Are Made
... 1966, experiments with mice suggested a new type of blood substitute, perfluorochemicals (PFC). These are long ... in PFC. This gave scientists the idea to use PFC as a blood thinner. In 1968, the idea was tested on rats. The rat's blood was completely removed and replaced with a PFC emulsion ... lived for a ...
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Autologous Blood Donation
Gale Encyclopedia of Surgery: A Guide for Patients and Caregivers
Autologous blood donation Definition Autologous blood donation is the process of donating one's own blood prior to an elective surgical or medical procedure to avoid or reduce the need for an allogeneic blood transfusion (from a volunteer blood donor ...
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blood
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
... in multicellular animals. In many species it also carries hormone s and disease-fighting substances. Blood picks up oxygen from the lungs and nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract and carries them to cells ... carbon dioxide and other wastes from those cells and transports them to the lungs and excretory organs ... .
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