A brand new class of anti-ageing medicine has arrived – which of them actually work?

I COME from a household with dodgy knees. My dad, 79, has had two full knee replacements and my sister wants one on the age of simply 54. My left knee hurts once I stroll downstairs and clicks once I bend it – traditional indicators of the age-related illness osteoarthritis, brought on by put on and tear on the cartilage cushioning the joint.

By the point I get to the knee-replacement stage, nonetheless, I won’t must go underneath the knife. As a substitute, I hope to have the ability to swallow a number of tablets sometimes and really feel my knee ache disappear.

Osteoarthritis isn’t simply all the way down to put on and tear, but additionally an accumulation of some nasty cells, which assault the knee joint from inside. They’re referred to as senescent cells – outdated or run-down cells which have reached the top of their lives or suffered irreversible harm. They should die and but they don’t, as a substitute lurking in tissue, inflicting hassle.

Senescent cells are usually cleared out by the immune system, although that goes fallacious throughout ageing they usually accumulate, dripping poison into their environment and turning different cells rogue. They’re a main reason for quite a few age-related situations, not simply within the knees but additionally within the coronary heart, liver, muscle mass and mind.

No shock, then, that researchers have been eyeing senescent cells for a few years as a juicy goal for efforts to sluggish, halt and even reverse ageing. Now, we now have quite a few medicine within the pipeline and a few tantalising outcomes from human trials. There may be even hope that, by taking out senescent cells, different causes of ageing will evaporate too.

Cell senescence was …