Menstrual Blood May Be Key To Cure Diseases

Some women call it the curse, but others say that time of the month is a miracle, with the potential to someday cure diseases like Alzheimer's and breast cancer.

Dawn McFadden, a busy mom, decided to try something called Célle, an at home kit for collecting menstrual blood, which is then sent to a lab for processing and cryo freezing.

"There didn't seem to be any down side, any risks associated with doing it," McFadden said. "And there was a lot of upside potential."

McFadden buys into the company's claim that menstrual blood is a rich source of stem cells that could someday be used for her or her family to treat or cure everything from heart disease to sports injuries.

The maker said its early research shows the menstrual stem cells can re-generate brain tissue in mice.

But Doctor John Gearhart, an internationally renowned stem cell expert, said there's not enough research on stem cells from menstrual blood.

"These are to me, fairly preliminary reports that we're looking at," Gearhart said.  "It's clearly a source of stem cells. The issue is how effective they're going to be."

Doctor Julie Allickson, who is a spokesperson for Célle, is optimistic about the product and said she is excited for the results.

"They know it's for the hope of the research that we're doing," she said. "We feel that these cells potentially that there's a lot of applications that we can use these cells in."

For McFadden who has a family history of several diseases including Parkinson's and breast cancer she said she likes investing in the future of science.

"For the chance to have something that could really cure some of these really serious diseases is just phenomenal to me," she said.

McFadden said she paid for a special introductory offer. But now the fee is $500, $100 a year for storage.