9 ms·
Scientists are working to eliminate senescent cells
- spacecity1971 8y agoAs documented by Dr. Rhonda Patrick (and others), fasting can trigger cellular autophagy and reduce senescent cells without the use of drugs. https://www.foundmyfitness.com/news/t/fasting https://www.foundmyfitness.com/news/t/fasting
- chiefalchemist 8y agoWell. To be fair these theories are based on studies using mice. Is there some parallel to humans? Likely. But that nonetheless remains to be seen.
- subcosmos 8y agoSadly it takes a century to do those studies
- wincy 8y agoThere’s a substantial tradition of fasting in Christian (especially Orthodox) and Islamic faiths. I’d say that even if we don’t know the mechanism of action, the fact that it was something preserved through the years rather than abandoned means it merits thought about its benefit.
- subcosmos 8y agoOh we definitely know the mechanisms of action, especially for short term metabolic benefits. For lifespan studies though, the data just isn't there.
- enraged_camel 8y agoI don’t think religious fasting is practiced to grant one a longer lifespan.
- majewsky 8y agoReligious fasting won't induce autophagy. At least in those religious fasting traditions that I know of (Christian lent and Islamic Ramadan) observers can consume calories each day. Autophagy (IIRC) only starts after several days with zero caloric intake.
- spacecity1971 8y agoValter Longo has conducted human studies pointing to the veracity of this effect, at least with MS patients. Certainly early days yet, but compelling nonetheless. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160526151941.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160526151941.h...
- DenisM 8y agoDoes intermittent fasting count as real fasting?
- wincy 8y agoI believe she suggested a 72 hour fast once every three months or so. I also read the abstract of a study that claims fasting for 24 hours increases the concentration of some chemical that clears sways senescent cells. (But I can’t find it now, sorry)
- theothermkn 8y agoWhile the article title is sensational, it’s encouraging to see SENS getting wider traction in the public imagination. A lot of the other proposed therapies seem to involve genetic engineering, and this one seems more somatic, more at the scale of designing a drug to work at the scale of cells, vs the scale of DNA. It seems, to my interested layperson’s mind, that a rough and ready treatment is more likely at this scale, albeit one less likely to result in 4-digit lifespans, measured in years. This does make one of my fears more imminent, which is what to do with things like teeth, the vitreous humor, extant arthritic damage, and other systems and organs, the effects of aging for which the body has more or less lost or never had cells in place that can be recruited for repair. Time will tell. With any luck, we’ll have loads of it!
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago> what to do with things like teeth, the vitreous humor, extant arthritic damage, and other systems and organs, the effects of aging for which the body has more or less lost or never had cells in place that can be recruited for repair Sounds like we’ll have a healthy industry in healthcare and research for lifetimes to come.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- kwhitefoot 8y ago> what to do with things like teeth, False teeth have been available for quite a while now, not to mention implants. > the vitreous humor, Replace the eye with a camera? There are already people with experimental implants. > extant arthritic damage, Exo-skeleton? There are Japanese developments for construction workers that could probably be repurposed to help people be mobile. > and other systems and organs, Artificial hearts exist, dialysis works. So yes, the health industry will be the biggest industry in the future.
- scandox 8y agoI’m amazed that anyone thinks above normal individual longevity is a good idea. In my view it will be the end of human progress morally and scientifically rather than the beginning.
- kown223 8y agoI think we are the bubble generation, like the poor schmuck who died last in the ww2, humans will live forever and conquer the space.
- BOBOTWINSTON 8y agoBut that means we'll be the youngest, hottest, and coolest people in the afterlife.
- escapecharacter 8y agodamn, good point. Do you want to be the hippest dead person or the lamest, out-of-touch alive person? Hard decision
- cjbenedikt 8y agoLive fast, die young and be a good looking corps
- DoreenMichele 8y agoWell, I messed that up already. Too late to fix it.
- dev_dull 8y ago> In a lab just south of San Francisco... I’m always so amazing that Silicone Valley is so obsessed with finding the fountain of youth, yet so willing to dash their own youth upon the rocks by working long hours, putting off having kids and starting a family, etc.
- warent 8y agoOne person's dashed youth is another person's life well spent
- subcosmos 8y agoI think senescence may be largely driven by viral infections. The top gene associated with senescence is hijacked by many viruses to lock the cell cycle into a specific point and optimize energy production, which viruses need to propagate. https://medium.com/@InfinoMe/senescence-links-between-heart-disease-genomics-and-aging-fa78bde773da https://medium.com/@InfinoMe/senescence-links-between-heart-... We need better antivirals so we can kill off stuff like Epstein-Barr that infects so many of us for a lifetime.
- DenisM 8y agoThis is curious: [...] says Kirkland, who is also running a handful of clinical trials at Mayo for repurposed cancer drugs and natural products that have been shown to kill senescent cells in mice. [...] What are those "natural products" I wonder?
- emernic 8y agoNatural product is just a pharma industry term referring to a very large category of drugs derived from natural sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_product. Not related to naturopathy or other nonsense.
- jz_ 8y agohttps://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT03430037 https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT03430037 https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT03675724 https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT03675724