Besides haematopoietic stem cells the umbilical cord blood also contains stem cells, which are able to differentiate to another types of cells as well. Some of them have only recently appeared, some of them have already been known for longer, and some of them have even been used experimentally already. From the most important stem cells we choose the following:

          Insulin producing cells . transplantation of these cells would allow the cure of diabetic patients.

          Brain cells . in some brain diseases, as e.g. Parkinson.s disease, Alzheimer disease, transplantation of these cells can restore the damaged brain functions. In Parkinson.s disease (treatment) umbilical cord blood cells have been successfully used experimentally.

          Heart muscle cells . after a myocardial infarction (heart attack) a scar builds over the affected area, which is, in comparison to healthy heart muscle, deficient. By replacing the scar with heart muscle cells it could be possible to recover the strength and the force of a heart. This method has already been approved in clinical experiment.

          It must be said, that only the future will show which of these opportunities will come into practice and which will remain only our wishes.