Jan 23rd 2024
Clearing “Zombie” Cells Out of Your Body
Don’t look now, but we’ve all got a population of “zombie” cells living in our bodies! Like us, cells are born, have a life and die. Ideally, when they lose their ability to divide and reproduce through damage or simple aging, they “commit suicide” in an orderly process called “apoptosis.” But some cells, although no longer functional, refuse to die. Instead they linger on, generating chronic levels of inflammation and producing protein-digesting enzymes that cause accelerated aging to organs and tissues, increasing our susceptibility to chronic disease. Called “senescent” or “senile” cells, a robust immune system could destroy them, but as we age, our immune systems weaken, and these zombie cells accumulate. In 2011, researchers genetically modified mice so that their senescent cells could be triggered to self-destruct, which increased the mice’s lifespan by an amazing 2025% while greatly retarding development of chronic disease. This caught the attention of the…
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