New Treatment Could Slow Down The Ageing Process
11/11/2011
Scientists believe they may have found the key to slowing the process of getting old.
A new treatment for a rare disease that causes children to age eight times the normal rate could hold the key to slowing down the ageing process.
Researchers studying the degenerative disorder reveal they have been able to reverse the effects that cause sufferers bodies to grow old too quickly. The findings may lead to a new treatment for preventing the harmful side effects of growing old.
Professor Chris Hutchinson of Durham University’s Biophysical Sciences Institute says that “'What we have discovered is a means of slowing down the ageing process in children that have premature ageing disease.”
“In the long term that almost certainly has an implication for normal ageing.”
Scientists were able to limit and repair damages to DNA and reduce the levels of harmful reactive molecule, helping cells stay healthy for longer by using a drug known as N-acetul.
“The findings are at an early stage but show good potential for helping people live more comfortable and less painful lives when they reach 70 and 80 years of age and beyond,” says Professor Hutchinson.
Professor James Goodwin, Head of Research at Age UK, feels that the findings are very promising and offer valuable insights into the aging process and have the potential to improve the standard of later life in the future.