Understanding Aging and How to Reverse It: Becoming Our Own Benjamin Button
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View all treatments How it works Your journey Testimonials Pricing About The center The company The stem cells Facilities People & place Dr. Diana Reyes The team About Medellín ENES Book your consultation Message us Treatments + By body area Knee & joints Spine, neck & back Hip Shoulder By condition Autoimmune & inflammatory Neurological Diabetes Anti-aging & vitality View all treatments → How it works Your journey Testimonials Pricing About + The company The stem cells Dr. Diana Reyes The team Facilities About Medellín ENES Book your consultation Message us on WhatsApp Blog · Aging science Aging science The Benjamin Button question: what science knows about aging Why cells age, what tired senescent cells have to do with it, and where stem cells and other approaches fit, without the movie magic. 6 min readReviewed with the medical team of Stem Cells Colombia The 30-second version Aging isn’t one thing: scientists now describe twelve connected processes behind it. Tired senescent cells and chronic low-grade inflammation are two of the ones medicine can measure and target. Stem cells are studied to calm that inflammation and support more good years. In the movie, Benjamin Button is born old and gets younger every year. It is a lovely story and a terrible plan: by the end he is a baby who can’t remember anyone. Most people would settle for something far more modest, like climbing stairs at 70 the way they did at 50. That modest goal has a name, healthspan: the years you spend in good health. Here is what science knows about why people age, and where treatments like stem cells fit. Why do people age at all? There is no single aging switch. A major 2023 review describes twelve linked hallmarks of aging, from damage to DNA and worn-out mitochondria, the cell’s power plants, to tired stem cells and chronic inflammation. They feed each other, a bit like a house where a leaky roof leads to damp walls, which lead to bad wiring. Fix the roof and the walls get a chance. That is why researchers are interested in the hallmarks that sit upstream, and two of them get a lot of attention: senescent cells and inflammation. 12 hallmarks of aging described in the 2023 review in Cell What is a senescent cell? When a cell has divided many times or taken too much damage, it can enter senescence: it stops dividing but doesn’t die. That is a sensible safety brake, since a damaged cell that keeps dividing is a problem. The trouble is that these cells stick around and keep talking. They release inflammatory signals that irritate their neighbors and can push healthy cells toward the same tired state. With age, they accumulate. In plain wordsSenescence cells that are old and tired: they no longer divide, but they keep sending out inflammatory signals. Why does inflammation matter so much? With the years, the immune system tends to stay slightly switched on even when there is nothing to fight. Researchers call it inflammaging, a quiet, constant background inflammation that is linked to many of the problems of later life. Senescent cells are one of its sources. Extra body fat, poor sleep, inactivity and changes in the gut microbes are others. This is also why the boring advice works: exercise, sleep and a good diet all lower inflammation. Tip Before any anti-aging treatment, ask for a baseline: blood work, inflammation markers, maybe an epigenetic test. You can’t track what you never measured. Can the tired cells be cleared out? A class of drugs called senolytics is designed to do exactly that. In a small 2019 pilot study, nine people with diabetic kidney disease took a senolytic combination for three days, and biopsies eleven days later showed fewer senescent cells in their fat tissue and skin, plus lower inflammatory signals in the blood. It was the first proof that this can be done in people. It was also tiny, short and in a specific disease. Senolytics are an area to watch, not something to order online at 2 a.m. Other compounds are being studied too; talk to your doctor before trying any of them. Where do stem cells fit? The body’s own stem cells become fewer and less active with age, which slows repair. Donated mesenchymal stem cells don’t replace them. What they do is send signals: in lab and early human studies, they calm inflammation and support the body’s own repair work. The most interesting human data come from older adults with frailty. In a 2024 randomized, placebo-controlled trial, umbilical cord stem cells given through a vein improved quality of life, walking speed and grip strength over six months and lowered two inflammatory markers. A real signal, in the people who need it most. MythStem cells turn back the clock. Reality: The aim is more good years: early trials show less inflammation and better function in older adults. What this means for you Aim for healthspan, not a movie ending: more good years, not fewer birthdays. Start with what is proven to lower inflammation: movement, sleep, food and weight care. If you consider stem cells, start with a free evaluation: measure first, then track your results over months with your doctor. Where the evidence stands Lab & animal studiesFirst human studiesSeveral clinical trialsStandard of care The biology of aging, including senescent cells and inflammaging, is well described. Treatments aimed at it are a growing field: senolytics have small pilot studies in people, and umbilical cord stem cells have randomized trials in frail older adults showing better function and lower inflammation over months. Research is growing, with the focus on healthspan: more good years. Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe · Cell, 2023 Inflammaging: a new immune-metabolic viewpoint for age-related diseases · Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 2018 Senolytics decrease senescent cells in