The Aging Brain

     Aging has always been something of interest because there is no real distinction of whether aging is just a natural occurrence or if it is the result of disease. The ability to maintain cognitive development and abilities into old age are current aims for scientific studies. Without the strong protection the brain has, it is susceptible to vascular conditions, metabolic syndromes, and chronic stress. Scientists believe that studying cognitive aging is relevant to identifying how to intervene on aging and improve the quality of life.
   
     One study found IQ tests from Scotland from 1947 and had Scotland citizens that took those tests previously take them again, at 78 years old. From that study, it was found that participants in the IQ test at age 11's scores could predict about 50% of the variance in their IQ's at age 78. This study was interesting and is a good example of the work scientists are doing to try to link aging and cognitive function.

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Research For Muscle Mass Loss

On February 19, 2014, Arstechnica published an article called “Researchers ID Genetic Switch That Controls Muscle Repair System.” Scientists are doing research to find a cure for the loss of muscle mass and strength. The condition for loss of muscle mass and strength is called Sarcopenia. This is the reason why elders go loss in stamina and have difficulty walking. Scientist describes the mechanism of this disease. Certain cells, known as adult stem cells, maintain and repair organs in the body. These cells have two states, the resting state and the active state. These cells divide only when tissue repair is required. When the adult stem cells stop functioning, the organ’s repair system also stops. This normally occurs with aging. Diseases such as Sarcopenia arise as a result.
There is research is being done at Pompeu Fabra University, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, and CNIC in Spain. Researchers studied the active stem cells in mice. They noticed that the cells in the older mice go through irreversible changes that make them exit the resting state. This resulted in the older mice not being able to “self-renew” when needed.  The younger mice did not undergo that change.  Researchers found that the cells undergo these changes because of a key gene that controls the senescence known as p16INK4a. When this gene was blocked, the old cells responded to tissue injury and replenished the cell population. Researchers are hoping to selectively silence the p16INK4a. As a result the discovery will lead to a treatment that will restart the native tissue repair system in old cells.

This article was very informative. I believe that continuing the research will help lead to treatments that will help with the effects of aging. Discovering the key to the loss of muscle condition is a good start. I believe that discovering a treatment will be possible but it won’t be easy. For example, there is high risk that the treatment may be a carcinogen.  

Senescent Cells are Linked to Diseases Associated with Aging

Researchers have long been battling the effects of aging. Scientists hope to use the discovery of senescent cells to postpone many diseases that develop with age. Senescent cells are a category of cells that help promote aging of the tissues. Scientists hope that ridding the body of these senescent cells would protect against these diseases that develop as the body gets older. These senescent cells build up in aging tissues such as arthritic knees, cataracts, and the plaque that lines arteries.  The cells secrete agents that effect the immune system and causes inflammation. These senescent cells promote aging in the tissues that they accumulate in. A research team at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. has produced a strain of mouse in which all the senescent cells can purge with the use of a drug. These mice, without the presence of these senescent cells showed great improvement in the development of age related diseases. They did not develop cataracts, could exercise much longer, avoided the wasting away of muscle, and they retained the layer of fat that usually goes away which causes wrinkles. The mice should have also theoretically lived longer, however the type of mouse chosen for the experiment succumbed to heart attacks more readily at an early age, regardless of tissue. Researchers hope to devise ways to rid the body of the senescent cells but cannot use the same treatment used on the mice on people. Drugs already exist that combat some of the hormones secreted by the senescent cells. Many more tests are still needed to be done to understand senescent cells better, but the discovery that these cells drive the aging process is a big breakthrough in aging research.