A Popular Science View of the Development of Senolytic Therapies

Over the last decade, an increasing diversity of research groups and companies are working towards the clinical use of senolytic therapies to reverse aspects of aging in older patients by clearing harmful senescent cells. Of the early senolytic therapies, the dasatinib and quercetin combination is the only one with published data in human clinical trials showing clearance of senescent cells. This treatment is in fact easily accessible to self-experimenters, and even being prescribed off-label by more adventurous physicians. The biotech industry is working to produce a next generation of (probably) better approaches, and obtain regulatory approval for their use. A decade from now, clearance of senescent cells in older people will be widespread, and the incidence of serious age-related disease will decrease by some noticeable amount as a result. There is a growing research movement to halt chronic disease by protecting brains and bodies from the biological fallout of aging. If these researchers are successful, they'll have no shortage of customers: People are living longer, and the number of Americans age 65 and older is expected to double, to 80 million, by 2040. One of their targets is decrepit cells that build up in tissues as people age. These "senescent" cells have reached a point - due to damage, stress or just time - when they stop dividing, but don't die. While senescent cells typically make up only a small fraction of the overall cell population, they don't ju...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs