Progeria May Have A New Treatment
On June 29, 2011, the Progeria Research Foundation published encouraging results from a study that may lead to a treatment for this devastating genetic condition. Progeria, also known as Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome, causes rapid aging in children. A study completed at the National Institutes of Health and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has had encouraging results in using rapamycin to stall the effects of the disease.
Rapamycin, commonly used to thwart organ rejection in transplant patients, was shown to reduce the amount of the protein responsible for rapid aging by 50 percent and causes the cells to live longer. While the study was conducted on non-Progeria mice, the results are cause for optimism.
While Progeria is an incredibly rare disease with only 78 sufferers currently living in 30 countries throughout the globe, finding a treatment or cure would also benefit the rest of mankind. Understanding aging and finding ways to combat it is essential to increasing the human lifespan and improving health via combating age-related ailments such as arthritis.
It’s still too early to make grand statements about the possible efficacy of this new treatment, the medical community is optimistic. Understanding the drug’s effects on Progeria means that the human race is one step closer to understanding and treating the universal disease of aging.
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