The use of low-frequency ultrasound could have regenerative effects on living organisms. Not only do they appear to reactivate the capacity for cell division in aging human cells, but they also "invigorated" elderly mice, improving their physical performance in tests such as running on a treadmill and restoring their elasticity, even when suffering from back problems .
“We often wonder if this is really possible,” he says Michael Sheetz of the University of Texas Medical Branch. “We are planning a human trial to understand whether low-frequency ultrasound is safe and whether it can help in the treatment of age-related diseases.”
“Rejuvenating” low frequency ultrasound: what the discovery consists of
The cells in our body have a sort of “expiration”: after a certain number of times, known as Hayflick limit, stop replicating and become senescent. There are external factors that can accelerate this process: stress, exposure to chemical agents and more. And when this happens it gets bad, because a snowball effect can be triggered: the senescent cells in turn release chemicals that increase inflammation and lead to other senescent cells. At that point, aging and its diseases are rampant.
Among the research that various laboratories in the world do to counteract aging, the Sheetz search popped up. His team used low-frequency ultrasound (less than 100 kilohertz, far below that used for medical diagnostics). And the tests attracted all the attention they could get.
The results
Cells that usually stopped after 15 replications continued to "work" undisturbed, even reaching 24 replications (over 50% increase). And mice subjected to a higher frequency of ultrasound show improvements in memory. “This is very promising data,” he says Jürgen Götz from the University of Queensland in Australia, who was part of the research team. “More work is now needed to define the actual parameters of ultrasound.”
Next step: an experiment involving patients with osteoarthritis and foot ulcers. To refine the technique with low-frequency ultrasound and rule out a theoretical risk: All therapies that increase cell division could increase the rate of cancer, but Sheetz says his team saw no signs of this.
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