
Scientists are working to eliminate senescent cells - sambeau
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/06/race-to-kill-killer-zombie-cells-senescent-damaged-ageing-eliminate-research-mice-aubrey-de-grey
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theothermkn
While 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!

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scandox
I’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.

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subcosmos
Do you believe in inserting a heart stent to save someones life from coronary
heart disease, potentially buying them many increased years.

Longevity science is basically all of human healthcare practices, but iterated
ad infinitum. Where do you draw the line?

We only lived to our 30s just a few hundred years ago. Was that the natural
way things should be?

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beautifulfreak
Say no to heart stents, btw. Do the research.

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subcosmos
... you arrogantly said to a medical professional working at a hospital ...

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beautifulfreak
Sorry if I came off as arrogant. I want more people to know about the
uselessness of stents.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/upshot/heart-stents-
are-u...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/upshot/heart-stents-are-useless-
for-most-stable-patients-theyre-still-widely-used.html)

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spacecity1971
As 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
Well. 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.

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subcosmos
Sadly it takes a century to do those studies

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wincy
There’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.

~~~
majewsky
Religious 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.

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subcosmos
I 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-...](https://medium.com/@InfinoMe/senescence-links-between-heart-
disease-genomics-and-aging-fa78bde773da)

We need better antivirals so we can kill off stuff like Epstein-Barr that
infects so many of us for a lifetime.

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DenisM
This 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?

~~~
jz_
[https://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)

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dev_dull
> _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
One person's dashed youth is another person's life well spent

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kown223
I think we are the bubble generation, like the poor schmuck who died last in
the ww2, humans will live forever and conquer the space.

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BOBOTWINSTON
But that means we'll be the youngest, hottest, and coolest people in the
afterlife.

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escapecharacter
damn, good point.

Do you want to be the hippest dead person or the lamest, out-of-touch alive
person? Hard decision

~~~
cjbenedikt
Live fast, die young and be a good looking corps

~~~
DoreenMichele
Well, I messed that up already. Too late to fix it.

