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Stem cells derived from placenta were able to regenerate healthy heart cells after heart attacks in animals. The placental stem cells traveled to the site of the injury in the heart and formed beating heart cells that helped repair damage.

To learn more about stem cells derived from placenta, check out the podcast I did a few years ago with Dr. Frans Kuyper who discovered how the human placenta is a rich source of pluripotent stem cells and yet the placenta is thrown away after delivery. We discuss how his lab has shown that the stem cells from the placenta can be transformed into neuron-like cells, fat cells, bone cells, endothelial cells (relevant for lung and blood vessels), and liver cells. His lab also developed a technique for harvesting 5 to 7 times more hematopoietic stem cells from placenta than is currently retrieved from cord blood, a more standard, established source that is used worldwide for a bone-marrow transplant.

There are a couple of companies that bank placenta and cord blood after your baby is born. I chose to bank both placenta and cord blood after the birth of my son. I decided to go with Life Bank USA (no affiliation) to bank my cord blood and placenta because I really liked the research they are doing with placental stem cells. I hope to see more well-established cord blood companies start banking placental tissue…it is so worth it.

Foundmyfitness placental stem cell episode: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/frans-kuypers

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