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posted by martyb on Thursday January 10 2019, @09:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-clan-Macleod dept.

The anti-cancer drug dasatnib in combination with quercetin being trialed for safety against lung fibrosis has shown impressive anti-aging results.

Participants in the trial were ~70 years old and suffering from pulmonary fibrosis a debilitating and eventually fatal disease. After the trial, 100% of the study showed improvement

participants were able to walk faster, get up from a chair more quickly and scored better in ability tests.

The benefit is a result of removing 'zombie cells' from the body.

Senescent cells - also known as zombie cells - are not completely dead so are not cleared out by the body, but are too damaged to repair tissue or carry out normal functions. Unable to repair itself or clear out the waste, the body gradually deteriorates.

Previously animal studies have shown that removing these cells reverses the ageing process, extends lifespan, and restores lost youth.

Better yet, it does not sound like a pill every day for the rest of your life sort of thing

“It has a hit-and-run effect,” added Dr Kirkland. “The drug starts working quickly and we would ideally like to be able to give it just once a month.”

Of course increasing the cost 30x should nicely take care of that drawback.


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  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Saturday January 12 2019, @01:46AM

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Saturday January 12 2019, @01:46AM (#785334) Journal

    accidents are about 8% of deaths and suicides 2%.

    Yes, so there will be significant attrition just from those. If we manage to finally get into space, that may change the odds some. It's a very unforgiving environment.

    Niven's Puppeteers

    While I am fond of Niven's writing (and give him credit for nearly everything good Jerry Pournelle ever put his name on), I don't mistake him for a fortune teller.

    I would expect that eventually suicide will become a leading cause of death.

    Possibly. Another factor is the urge to have children might settle down a bit if people knew they didn't have to do that to see their genes wander off into the future. It also makes a lot more sense to have children after you've had enough time to establish material circumstances that are able to support them, and are sure that the current social circumstance is one you'd actually want to raise children in. Right now, I wouldn't have kids, for instance — IMHO, our society is in deep trouble and my undertaking parenting isn't called for.

    There is also always the path of regulation. Never underestimate a regulator... they're prone to committing the most amazing abuses, and the citizens have a very poor record of yanking on their leashes.

    Hard to say how things would actually go, though. The obvious path isn't always the path taken.

    --
    Stupidity is actually a superpower. We learn this when
    we repeatedly fail to defeat it with intelligence.

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