Health Column

The process of banking cord blood consists of collecting, or harvesting, and storing the blood from a newborn’s umbilical cord. This cord connects from the fetus’ belly button to the mother’s placenta during pregnancy. The cord’s main purpose is to deliver much-needed nutrients to the fetus. If you, like most parents, want to do everything to safeguard your child’s future health, cord blood banking is an excellent idea.

During cord blood banking, approximately three ounces, or 80 milliliters, of blood are collected. Banking arrangements must be in place well-before the birth because the blood has to be collected within the first 15 minutes of the newborn’s birth. This process does not pose any risk to the baby.

Once the blood is collected, it will be tested for a variety of diseases. In the event a disease is present, the cord blood bank will contact you. If the blood passes all testing, it will be slowly frozen until it reaches -196 degrees Celsius, or -321 Fahrenheit. As long as the proper temperature is maintained, this blood can be used anytime. Each cord bank has several back-up power sources to protect the blood when an electricity outage occurs.

Private cord blood banks do cost money. If you do not have the money to harvest and bank your baby’s umbilical cord blood, it can be donated. This act is completely free and can help save a life. Otherwise, your newborn’s blood will simply be thrown away, which will not help your family or a stranger.

On average, private umbilical cord banks charge anywhere from $1,500-$2,500 USD to set-up an account. Afterward, the bank will charge a yearly storage fee ranging from $100-$150 USD. There are some pubic cord banks that will set aside a portion of your newborn’s blood and put the rest of the blood in the general, public pool.

Air Optix contact lenses are common in the entire world especially to people with eye problems. This is because these lenses are known to offer exact remedy that the wearer needs.  In order to heed to the many eye problems that are being witnessed in the present world, Air Optix has derived a solution to offer the best lenses for all types of patients. This has seen many types of lenses being invented to cater for this increasing population. Aqua Air Optix contact lenses are some of the lenses that have been introduced to the market.

Aqua Air Optix contact lenses boast of being made from unmatched materials that guarantee   oxygen flow in the lens five times more than the conventional soft lenses. This important in a way that it ensures the wearer looks healthy and at the same time feels healthy in the eyes.

There are several benefits of using Aqua Air Optix contact lenses;

a. They offer lubrication for unique comfort when wearing them. This means that you do not have to remove them most often due to feeling itchy or uncomfortable.

b. They have five times more of oxygen flow  in the lens compared to the traditional soft lenses

c. These contact lenses are created from patent lens materials that ensure moisture is retained. This is significant in a way that they remain comfortable throughout the day or even month.

d. These lenses also boast of superior deposit resistance that guarantees cleaner lenses.

Aqua Air Optix contact lenses are suitable for different types of people with different eye conditions. In case you exhibit the below conditions, then these lenses are what you need;

• If you wear lenses for long hours or throughout the day, then these lenses are suitable for you because they are comfortable.

• If you have a nonstop schedule that is more active, then you need to opt for these lenses.

• If you happen to experience tired eyes of dry eyes as the day ends, then these lenses are suitable for they offer the solution to this condition.

• In case you wear or want to wear contact lenses from the time you wake up till the time you retire on bed, then these are what you need.

In addition, it is possible to get these contact lenses online which are definitely easy and cheap compared to the traditional method of finding lenses.

Regular heart test for newborn babies can effectively save them from congenital heart defects, researchers said. Though some defects related to heart are identified during mid pregnancy, not all can be judged during that time.

Thus, routine checkup is essential to identify the defects and save lives of newborn babies. Congenital defects in heart are one of the major causes of death of newborn babies. A simple test to establish the oxygen level in their blood can save their life.

The test identified around 75 percent crucial cases within a month of birth and 49 percent fatal defects in heart.

Combining this test with routing examination and ultrasound, around 92 percent of the cases were identified. “Pulse oximetry is a safe, non-invasive, feasible and reasonably accurate test which has sensitivity which is better than that of antenatal screening and clinical examination.

It adds value to existing screening and is likely to be useful for identification of cases of critical congenital heart defects that would otherwise go undetected,” say the authors.