Everyone gets a bit grouchy at times. I know I sure as heck do.
But even on your worst curmudgeon days, I can assure you that your grumpiness pales in comparison to the bad attitude of a certain kind of aging cell that’s hiding out in your body right now.
They’re often referred to as “zombies.” But their technical name is senescent cells.
I’ve talked about senescent cells here in Healthier Talk before. So you might recall that these belligerent little building blocks are at the heart of aging.
You see, generally, our cells live out their lives carrying out their assigned tasks and happily dividing to make fresh new cells when needed. Until one day, they get the signal they’re no longer useful.
When that happens, they shut down, close up shop, and head off to the afterlife.
Well, they’re supposed to at rate. But senescent cells are grouchy oldsters who have zero intention of cooperating. They’ve stopped dividing to make new cells. And yet, they refuse to listen to the signal from your immune system telling them it’s time to die.
Instead, they hang around loitering in your tissues, taking up space. But not doing anything useful. In fact, it’s just the opposite. They cause harm.
These zombie cells don’t simply mind their own business. Instead, they “infect” nearby healthy cells with their lousy attitude like some kind of aging virus.
And it gets worse. The senescent cells also pump out pro-inflammatory cytokines causing chronic inflammation. And as more and more of them accumulate, they start to interfere with the function of the tissues around them.
Senolytic antibodies help fight aging
Experts say the damage senescent cells cause contributes to many of the age-related diseases we battle as we head into our senior years, such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and certain cancers.
And they believe if we can figure out a way to hand these zombies their hats and show them out the door, we could essentially slam the brakes on aging.
That could lead to real-world benefits like better blood pressure, enhanced memory, improved blood sugar, healthier joints, and more. And ultimately to us living longer and healthier lives.
Researchers have been hard at work trying to develop methods to efficiently remove senescent cells without damaging healthy ones. And up until now, these new drugs, called senolytics, have been a bust.
But now, a new study has raised hopes that we may be closer than ever before to cracking the code behind aging. A team of researchers has developed an antibody that works in much the same way our natural antibodies do with germs.
These new senolytics are essentially trained to recognize those grumpy old cells, attach to them, and then deliver a shot of the toxic compound duocarmycin.
There’s no doubt it’s an exciting step in the right direction. But the truth is we’re a long way off from this anti-aging therapy being a reality. This was only a proof of concept lab study.
In other words, a LOT more research needs to be done before we actually have a drug that can slow our aging down to a crawl.
Live LONGER and stay HEALTHIER
But the good news is nature has provided us with some safe, natural senolytics. This means in the meantime, we may be able to use them to slow aging, improve our health, and perhaps even help us live longer.
Two plant flavonoids, in particular, are very promising…
Quercetin: This flavonoid is found naturally in green tea, apples, onions, berries, citrus, grapes, and red wine. Or you can get it as a supplement.
Quercetin is effective against senescent cells in lab and animal studies. (It could help you tame your blood pressure too, learn how here.)
Fisetin: This flavonoid is found naturally in strawberries, apples, cucumbers, and onions. Or you can get it in a supplement too.
Research has shown fisetin can be effective against zombie cells, including in a recent COVID-19 animal study.
More research is needed to see how these natural senolytics perform against senescent cells in humans. But what we know so far is already very promising.
In the meantime, since these flavonoids have bunches of other health benefits, it makes sense to add more quercetin and fisetin-rich foods to your meals. Plus, you might want to consider taking supplements too.
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