ZOMBIE Cells a New Treatment Target for Alzheimer's?

 Being fit and active into old age is unheard of.

Growing older is frequently linked to becoming feeble and ill since it's a goal that so many people fail to achieve.

Through cellular senescence, a little-known but rapidly expanding area of ageing study, scientists are attempting to reverse that and address one of humanity's greatest issues.

It is based on the theory that, as a result of various types of damage, cells eventually cease proliferating and go into a "senescent" condition.

Most of them are removed by the body. Others, though, remain like zombies. They are still alive.

Growing evidence connects their accumulation in older individuals to a number of age-related diseases, including dementia, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis.

The interconnection

"Zombie cells," a potentially hazardous cell population, were found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease victims.

Senescent cells, which are stressed cells that amass with age in tissues all over the body and cause chronic inflammation and illness.

Senescent cells often become huge and flat with expanded nuclei because they are resistant to apoptosis, or programmed cell death. They emit a variety of chemicals, some of which can cause inflammation and damage to other cells, but conversely, some of which can also encourage the growth of cancerous cells.

Stressed cells can survive thanks to cellular senescence, but they could also turn zombie-like and start secreting chemicals that destroy nearby cells.

When cells reach this stage, their genetic programming is altered, and they turn inflammatory and poisonous. Their presence results in the tissue around them dying.

According to a group of experts, this stress is linked to the damaging tau protein tangles that are characteristic of 20 different brain illnesses, including Alzheimer's and traumatic brain injury.

Senescent cells were also discovered in the postmortem brain tissue of Alzheimer's sufferers. Additionally, they were discovered in postmortem tissue from patients with progressive supranuclear palsy, another brain disorder.

Conclusion

Senescent cells are known to build up with increasing age naturally and in areas affected by age-related illnesses such osteoarthritis, atherosclerosis, and neurological conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Scientists believe that targeting zombie cells, which build up in the brain before cognitive decline, would help to fend off illnesses like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Zombie cells are cells that are unable to die or function normally.

A variety of age-related disorders are thought to be caused by these zombie, or senescent, cells.