gethealthy

Were you aware that one of the most common birth defects is a heart defect and it is the leading cause of birth-related deaths.   In America approximately 35,000 infants or 1 out of every 125 are born every year with a heart defect.  One of the most common heart defects is a valve defect; either the valve is narrow, blocked, or does not close in a normal fashion making it difficult for blood to flow smoothly though it.  Sometimes these valves cannot be fixed via surgery and must be replaced by either using new ones from human or animal sources or by making one from an artificial material.

These replacements can be a lifesaver, however the valves do not grow or develop with the children, which requires the receiver to be subject to multiple surgeries to remove old smaller valves and replace them with larger ones.

This may soon come to an end as German scientist predict within the next 7 years they can produce a new heart valve for children born with valve defects that would grow with the child.  It would be produced by utilizing stem cells collected during birth, taken from the child’s own umbilical cord blood.

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