What Rare Diseases Teach Us About the Cellular Basis of Aging

In June, 2014, my book, entitled Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs: Keys to Understanding and Treating the Common Diseases was published by Elsevier. The book builds the argument that our best chance of curing the common diseases will come from studying and curing the rare diseases. Chapter 4 explains that much what we think we know about the aging process comes from studying rare diseases of premature aging, such as Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome, Bloom syndrome, Werner syndrome, Cockayne syndrome, dyskeratosis congenita, Fanconi anemia, Wolfram syndrome, and xeroderma pigmentosum. Lessons learned from these rare diseases are summarized in Chapter 4. From Chapter 4: 4.4.3 Rule—On a cellular basis, aging is a process confined to non-renewable cell populations. Brief Rationale—Long-lived cells that cannot replace themselves, such as fully differentiated neurons, muscle cells, and cartilage cells, have no biological destiny other than degeneration and death.As non-dividing cells undergo wear and tear, or suffer damage that cannot be repaired, they will die. The tissues in which these damaged cells reside will function with diminished capacity. For example, osteoarthritis is a chronic disease that occurs from repeated episodes of bone crunching on its cartilage cushion within joints. Osteoarthritis occurs primarily in weight-bearing joints, such as knees and hips. Over a lifetime, the cartilage is frayed and eroded. Injured chondrocytes do not divide, or they divide...
Source: Specified Life - Category: Pathologists Tags: ageing aging biology of aging cancer cause of aging cell renewal common disease genetic disease orphan disease orphan drugs rare disease Source Type: blogs