NYTimes: New Ligaments Grown with Cord Blood

Almost a year ago in a regular game of NBA basketball between the Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Bobcats, one of the most horrific injuries the sport has ever seen occurred to one of the brightest new stars in the league - Shaun Livingston.

The injury occured after Livingston stole the pass from the opposing team and headed towards the rim for your everyday standard layup. As he planted his left leg, his knee gave way in an obviously unnatural way and the next things the stunned crowd hears are screams of pain as Livingston has just torn all three of his major knee ligaments:

• Anterior Cruciate Ligament
• Medial Cruciate Ligament
• Posterior Cruciate Ligament

Usually, this type of injury takes a couple of years to recover from if at all. Injuries such as these require major reconstructive knee surgery where ligaments are fused back together. Livingston elected to have the surgery and is no just a few more months away from being able to play competitive basketball.

Now with advances in Stem Cell therapies, scientists are able to grow new tendons for unfortunate athletes such as Livingston and your average weekend warrior athlete. Former United States Olympic Physician, Dr. Scott Rodeo, explains that there is research being done now that shows we are not that far off from developing methods to help athletes recover from these kind of injuries.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you want to protect your child in the future from these kind of injuries and allow them a way to continue their way of sporting life, it would be recommended that you collect and store your baby’s Cord Blood. Many sports agents are already recommending to their clients to store their children’s Cord Blood with the hope that one day, they will be able to use their Cord Blood to help insure their athletic careers from career-ending injuries.

Resource: New York Times: For Athletes, the next Fountain of Youth