Scientists slow ageing process
(UKPA)
A way to slow the ageing process has been found by scientists
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Scientists have discovered how to slow down the ageing process and the breakthrough was made by researchers hunting a cure for a lethal childhood disease.
It is hoped a new treatment they developed may help millions of newborns and lead to greater understanding of how the damaging effects of ageing could be prevented.
The treatment works by combining existing medicine with an over-the-counter dietary supplement, N-acetyl cysteine, to repair or reverse damaged cells.
It was developed during a study into progeria - a premature ageing disease that affects children causing them to age up to eight times as fast as the usual rate. Professor Chris Hutchison, a member of the Biophysical Sciences Institute at Durham University, said further trials were needed before an effective drug treatment could be established.
He said: "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.
"In the short term, we are trying to find interventions for children with significant disabilities. We are using a careful approach that will look at patients with progeria to see if there's a model that can be used for wider medicine.
"It would be great to find a way to help relieve some of the effects of progeria and to extend the children's lives, whilst also finding a way to help increasingly ageing populations in many parts of the world.
"The findings are at a very early stage but they show the potential for helping people to live more comfortable and less painful lives when they reach 70 and 80 years of age and beyond."
Dr Leslie Gordon, medical director for the Progeria Research Foundation, said: "Dr Hutchison's study has not only confirmed basic cellular defects in progeria, but has also identified potential ways to improve those defects. This type of biological science is how progress towards treatments and a cure for children with progeria will advance."
The first results of the 18-month study, led by Durham University, are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.
Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
(UKPA)
A way to slow the ageing process has been found by scientists
=================================================
Scientists have discovered how to slow down the ageing process and the breakthrough was made by researchers hunting a cure for a lethal childhood disease.
It is hoped a new treatment they developed may help millions of newborns and lead to greater understanding of how the damaging effects of ageing could be prevented.
The treatment works by combining existing medicine with an over-the-counter dietary supplement, N-acetyl cysteine, to repair or reverse damaged cells.
It was developed during a study into progeria - a premature ageing disease that affects children causing them to age up to eight times as fast as the usual rate. Professor Chris Hutchison, a member of the Biophysical Sciences Institute at Durham University, said further trials were needed before an effective drug treatment could be established.
He said: "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.
"In the short term, we are trying to find interventions for children with significant disabilities. We are using a careful approach that will look at patients with progeria to see if there's a model that can be used for wider medicine.
"It would be great to find a way to help relieve some of the effects of progeria and to extend the children's lives, whilst also finding a way to help increasingly ageing populations in many parts of the world.
"The findings are at a very early stage but they show the potential for helping people to live more comfortable and less painful lives when they reach 70 and 80 years of age and beyond."
Dr Leslie Gordon, medical director for the Progeria Research Foundation, said: "Dr Hutchison's study has not only confirmed basic cellular defects in progeria, but has also identified potential ways to improve those defects. This type of biological science is how progress towards treatments and a cure for children with progeria will advance."
The first results of the 18-month study, led by Durham University, are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.
Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
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