Researchers at the University of Connecticut have developed a promising treatment that not only extends the lifespan of mice but also enhances their physical function throughout life. This study tracked health metrics such as grip strength and walking speed from an advanced age until death, showing that treated mice were healthier and less frail than untreated ones in their final days. The results suggest potential for extending healthy human lifespans by up to 10 years.
Researchers found that removing certain inflammation-causing cells from mice every month, starting in their middle age, not only extended their lifespans but also improved their heart health and overall physical function throughout their lives. This method shows promise for extending the period of good health as mice age, potentially pointing to new aging treatments for humans. Everyone wants to live to a ripe old age, but no one wants to be decrepit.
Now, University of Connecticut researchers have demonstrated a treatment that could lengthen life—and vigor—up to the very end. Even as human lifespans have lengthened over the past century, most people in old age suffer a serious health decline in the last decade of life. Chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease may begin, followed by frailty.
Many interventions can prolong life, but not necessarily good health. And nobody wants to spend the last years of an extra-long life in decrepitude. But that frail decline may not be inevi.