Oh, hey!

You caught me watching my favorite zombie show, The Blocking Dead.

It's on its 75th season and I truly have no idea what's happening anymore, but this show reminded me of a fun video idea.

Did you know that an entire army of zombies is living inside you; and it's getting larger every day!

Yeah. Buckle up. Queue the intro!

Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin!

It's true! There's a horde of zombies living inside you. Zombie cells that is.

The cells in your body are continually dividing and replacing old or damaged tissue, and repairing wounds.

This is what keeps you healthy.

But eventually, due to cellular stress, they stop multiplying.

And, instead of being killed through a process known as apoptosis, or cleared from the body by the immun system,

they remain and release harmful substances called SASP.

SASP stands for scenscent-associated secretory phenotype, and they can destroy or impair the cells around them.

The cells that release SASP, or just won't go away, are called senescent cells or zombie cells.

And, as you age, you get more and more of them,

leading to age-related disorders like cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis, and metabolic diseases.

The development of these cells is considered a hallmark of aging.

But scientists are finding ways to slow down their buildup or even remove them in order to prevent or treat age-related disease, and ultimately, extend one's lifespan.

There are three main methods being explored and they are all fascinating!

The first and most popular are senolytics.

These are drugs that target and kill senescent cells by inducing apoptosis.

There are many senolytics being tested in animals, and some even in clinical trials with varying success,

as well as targeted delivery strategies to mitigate serious side effects like tissue dysfunction.

Another strategy is SASP inhibitors or senomorphics, these drugs can stop the zombie cells from sucreating SASP,

so it can prevent it from damaging nearby cells, or even worse, by creating more zombie cells.

The last method is boosting our immunosurveillance, by strengthening the immune system so it can recognize and eliminate senescent cells by itself.

All three approaches have pros and cons, but they follow a broader theory of how to stop aging, by stoping the buildup of senescent cells,

this is called the damage repair approach.

Preventing damage would require messing with a complicated and delicate system.

But waiting for the disease to occur may be too late.

Treating the body as the damage accumulates, however... that could work!

And not just with these zombie senescent cells, but all types of age-related damage.

Which is exactly what our sponsor, the SENS Research Foundation, is working on with ApoptoSENS and other programs.

Check out their links in the description to learn more about the amazing work they are doing!

Did you like this video?

If so, we can make more about the other types of damage in the body, and how to perhaps stop them.

Let us know!

And also let me know in the comment section below, would you wanna live to 200 if nothing bad would happen to your body?

Let's have a fun discussion, shall we?

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You can also check out the team at Lifespan that powers Life Noggin down in the description!