Oldness

Ageing is one of the unavoidable consequences of passing time that humans have been trying to combat for ages. And since the outcome of that battle has been one and the same for our entire existence, it is an accepted fact that we will all lose hair as well as energy and stamina as we grow older. And it doesn’t stop there, the health problems that come with age are too many to count. Well, now science may just have stumbled upon a new discovery that could potentially reverse some of the most dreaded visible effects of ageing on our body, namely hair loss and stamina among others.

A new study was conducted on mice, aiming at improving kidney function, but in the course of the experiment, the research team noticed very distinct signs of hair regrowth and enhanced stamina in the subjects. The study uses peptide therapy to target senescent cells which are damaged cells that accumulate with age and lose their ability to multiply. The build-up of these cells is what eventually causes inflammation and a myriad of health problems.

The peptide works by blocking interaction between two proteins, therefore resulting in a natural death of the senescent cells without affecting healthy ones. The process is called apoptosis.

The results after the first trials were substantial as the animal’s hairless areas grew hair again and as they gained the capacity to run double their previously recorded distances. The original goal of the study was also attained since kidney function also saw a remarkable increase.

For the team in charge of the study, the most revolutionary aspect of the results is the fact that ageing symptoms that have already happened and become visible were directly reversed allowing for example for complete fur recovery.

It’s true that there a lot of mice studies that do not translate into the human physiology, but the researchers are optimistic in that they have already started planning human trials. If the therapy proves translatable, they hope to use it to treat a form of brain tumor the cells of which have very similar properties to senescent ones.