It was a long haul for 20 families from the northern Maharashtra town of Jalgaon, who arrived in the city this week for tooth extraction. In batches of two, 20 children and some of their parents travelled along the NH3 to get wobbly milk teeth removed and, more importantly, processed for stem cells.
"My daughter, Tanisha, felt the outing was an enjoyable picnic until she actually had to sit on the dentist's chair. She then started squealing and changed her mind twice,'' said Sunil Gujarati, a drug wholesaler from Jalgaon, who was one of four parents accompanying the young bunch on Monday's stem cell tourism trip.
Dr Kedar Gadgil from Store Your Cells in Mulund (E), where the group extraction occurred, said he had never been approached by such a big group for dental stem cell storage. "It's similar to last year's instance when 100-odd families from Aurangabad bought Mercedes Benz cars,'' he said.
Teeth are emerging as an easy source of stem cells, the master cells that can transform into any specialty cell. Stem cells from the umbilical cord can become blood cells and some scientists have experimentally used stem cells to make a liver in a laboratory. For Rs 60,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, a child's tooth can be extracted and processed for stem cells that can be stored for over 20 years. Adults can do the same with their wisdom tooth, the only adult tooth with some stem cells, said Dr Gadgil.
The Jalgaon story begins with homeopathic family doctor Sunil Dutt Chaudhary, who advised his patients to store their childrens stem cells. Pharmacist Tejas Jain, who organized the trip, said: "When our doctor told us to bank our children's stem cells, I found two companies from Mumbai on the internet offering the service. My cousin in the US too sent me some references and we zeroed in on Store Your Cells. However, only 18 of the 20 children could have their milk tooth extracted. Two of them had cavities that made them ineligible for the process,'' said Dr Gadgil.
The families were nevertheless happy. "We know that stem cells can offer no cure now, but it has got immense potential,'' said Jain and Gujarati about their reason for travelling so far for a tooth extraction.
Dental stem cell banking is less than a year old in India, but is growing. Store Your Cells started in June 2010 along with Stemade in Powai. Stemade already has centres in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai.
"We will have centres in 14 cities within a year,'' said Shailesh Gadre of Stemade. His company gets calls on its toll free number and web enquiries. Dr Gadgil said his company gets three to four enquiries every week.
But there are sceptics as well. A doctor from a public hospital said: "At present, all talk of stem cell therapy is questionable. It is still in research stage and many companies seem to be taking poor patients for a ride, a very expensive one at that.''
NGOs such as Nina Foundation, which works for spinal injury patients have also raised objections about such promises. Another doctor said: "There have been complaints of companies which store stem cells not offering it to patients when they needed it, and in usable form. People should realize a stem cell breakthrough is still some years away.
From root to stem:
Stem Cells: The bodys master cells that can regenerate and transform into any type of cell (they can create blood, kidneys, bones, etc)
Types:
* Embryonic stem cells: Controversial, as they can be used for cloning humans
* Adult stem cells: Not as versatile as embryonic cells, they are of two types, hematopoeitic and mesenchymal
Hematopoeitic cells form blood cells and are found in bone marrow or umbilical cord blood
Mesenchymal cells form connective tissues like bone, muscles, fat, and nerves as well as liver and pancreatic cells. They are found in bone marrow or dental pulp in teeth
* Dental Stem Cells: A recent addition to the array of stem cells, research is on in Europe to use them to create connective tissues or neural tissues for a variety of treatments. A study from Italy states dental stem cells were used to re-grow jaw bone and treat diseased gums
* Advantages:
* Children have 20 milk teeth, presenting as many opportunities
* Even older children of 14 or 15 could have their dental stem cells harvested when undergoing corrective orthodontic (braces) treatment
* Adults too can have their wisdom tooth harvested for stem cells
* They are easier to collect than other forms of stem cells that are harvested from the bone marrow or umbilical cord
Cost:
* Two companies offer to process and store dental stem cells with costs ranging from Rs 60,000 plus an annual payment to Rs 1.5 lakh one-time payment for 20 years
Dental stem cells are being studied to treat many diseases:
Diabetes
Spinal cord injury
Muscular dystrophy
Stroke
Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
Liver disease
Cornea repair
Parkinsons disease
Alzheimer's
Damaged tooth structures
Craniofacial defects
Bone regeneration
Neural tissue injury
"My daughter, Tanisha, felt the outing was an enjoyable picnic until she actually had to sit on the dentist's chair. She then started squealing and changed her mind twice,'' said Sunil Gujarati, a drug wholesaler from Jalgaon, who was one of four parents accompanying the young bunch on Monday's stem cell tourism trip.
Dr Kedar Gadgil from Store Your Cells in Mulund (E), where the group extraction occurred, said he had never been approached by such a big group for dental stem cell storage. "It's similar to last year's instance when 100-odd families from Aurangabad bought Mercedes Benz cars,'' he said.
Teeth are emerging as an easy source of stem cells, the master cells that can transform into any specialty cell. Stem cells from the umbilical cord can become blood cells and some scientists have experimentally used stem cells to make a liver in a laboratory. For Rs 60,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, a child's tooth can be extracted and processed for stem cells that can be stored for over 20 years. Adults can do the same with their wisdom tooth, the only adult tooth with some stem cells, said Dr Gadgil.
The Jalgaon story begins with homeopathic family doctor Sunil Dutt Chaudhary, who advised his patients to store their childrens stem cells. Pharmacist Tejas Jain, who organized the trip, said: "When our doctor told us to bank our children's stem cells, I found two companies from Mumbai on the internet offering the service. My cousin in the US too sent me some references and we zeroed in on Store Your Cells. However, only 18 of the 20 children could have their milk tooth extracted. Two of them had cavities that made them ineligible for the process,'' said Dr Gadgil.
The families were nevertheless happy. "We know that stem cells can offer no cure now, but it has got immense potential,'' said Jain and Gujarati about their reason for travelling so far for a tooth extraction.
Dental stem cell banking is less than a year old in India, but is growing. Store Your Cells started in June 2010 along with Stemade in Powai. Stemade already has centres in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai.
"We will have centres in 14 cities within a year,'' said Shailesh Gadre of Stemade. His company gets calls on its toll free number and web enquiries. Dr Gadgil said his company gets three to four enquiries every week.
But there are sceptics as well. A doctor from a public hospital said: "At present, all talk of stem cell therapy is questionable. It is still in research stage and many companies seem to be taking poor patients for a ride, a very expensive one at that.''
NGOs such as Nina Foundation, which works for spinal injury patients have also raised objections about such promises. Another doctor said: "There have been complaints of companies which store stem cells not offering it to patients when they needed it, and in usable form. People should realize a stem cell breakthrough is still some years away.
From root to stem:
Stem Cells: The bodys master cells that can regenerate and transform into any type of cell (they can create blood, kidneys, bones, etc)
Types:
* Embryonic stem cells: Controversial, as they can be used for cloning humans
* Adult stem cells: Not as versatile as embryonic cells, they are of two types, hematopoeitic and mesenchymal
Hematopoeitic cells form blood cells and are found in bone marrow or umbilical cord blood
Mesenchymal cells form connective tissues like bone, muscles, fat, and nerves as well as liver and pancreatic cells. They are found in bone marrow or dental pulp in teeth
* Dental Stem Cells: A recent addition to the array of stem cells, research is on in Europe to use them to create connective tissues or neural tissues for a variety of treatments. A study from Italy states dental stem cells were used to re-grow jaw bone and treat diseased gums
* Advantages:
* Children have 20 milk teeth, presenting as many opportunities
* Even older children of 14 or 15 could have their dental stem cells harvested when undergoing corrective orthodontic (braces) treatment
* Adults too can have their wisdom tooth harvested for stem cells
* They are easier to collect than other forms of stem cells that are harvested from the bone marrow or umbilical cord
Cost:
* Two companies offer to process and store dental stem cells with costs ranging from Rs 60,000 plus an annual payment to Rs 1.5 lakh one-time payment for 20 years
Dental stem cells are being studied to treat many diseases:
Diabetes
Spinal cord injury
Muscular dystrophy
Stroke
Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
Liver disease
Cornea repair
Parkinsons disease
Alzheimer's
Damaged tooth structures
Craniofacial defects
Bone regeneration
Neural tissue injury
0 comments:
Post a Comment