Aging is an inevitable process. Regardless of the lifestyle a person lives, the internal systems of his body deteriorate over time and stop working properly.
However, this process can be delayed. How can aging be slowed down?
Today, the process of preserving youth has turned into a real trend. The value of the global market for anti-aging products, whether anti-aging creams or Botox injections, was estimated at $25.9 billion in 2023. Experts expect its average growth until 2030 to reach 7.3%. However, they are unable to turn back time and rejuvenate the body.
In order to solve this problem, scientists around the world are trying to understand the biological causes of aging.
Contemporary scientific school suggests that biological aging depends on two processes, namely the general wear and tear of the body at the cellular level and a decrease in the body’s ability to remove old or dysfunctional proteins and cells. The wear and tear of the body includes, for example, the appearance of genetic mutations, as well as the gradual shortening of chromosomes at the ends of telomeres, and their depletion is associated with visual manifestations of aging, gray hair, gray hair and sagging skin.
Although no “drug” has been invented to protect against aging, some recent research is helping us get closer to understanding how to slow biological aging.
Many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, are linked to the accumulation of harmful forms of various proteins in the brain. The main risk factor is aging, as the body’s ability to eliminate toxins weakens with age.
This means that if you increase the efficiency of the “cleansing” systems in an aging body, you can protect internal structures from deterioration. In a study conducted in 2024, scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center noted that restoring the function of lymphatic vessels in the neck may help better remove waste from the brain, including those that prevent the functioning of nerve cells and lead to various forms of dementia.
The truth is that cerebrospinal fluid is responsible for getting rid of excess protein produced by brain cells. In order to complete the “cleansing” process, it needs to enter the lymphatic system, and through it to the kidneys where it is processed along with other body by-products.
In their new study, the scientists were able to photograph the path taken by the cerebrospinal fluid loaded with protein waste in elderly mice. The experts also recorded the pulsation of the lymphatic vessels through which vital waste is removed from the brain. It turned out that as the body aged, the frequency of blood vessel contractions needed to use proteins decreased, and the rate of removal of contaminated fluids from the brain in elderly rodents was 63% slower than in young rodents.
A team of scientists tried to increase the frequency of lymphatic vessel contractions using prostaglandin F2α. It is usually used to stimulate labor, as it causes contraction of smooth muscles, and as a result it is a well-suited tool for stimulating blood vessels. Giving the drug to elderly mice increased the flow of lymph filled with unwanted proteins, becoming the same as in young rodents.
This innovative approach has not yet been tested on humans, however, as the study authors emphasize, in the near future it may become a key to restoring the brain’s cleaning systems. In the distant future, it will help save people from dementia.
Source: TASS
#delay #aging #prolong #youth
2024-10-03 19:57:46
