Bone marrow transplants can help prevent aging, research finds

In an effort to prevent aging, scientists have used new method of transplanting bone marrows of young mice into older ones.

According to a new research, scientists have successfully transplanted a healthy young mouse’s bone marrow into an older mouse after which, the older mice’s brain cells were better preserved and had better memories and cognitive abilities than its elderly peers.

The team discovered that the marrow prevented brain cells from receding and decaying due to age, the animals that received transfusions had brain cells with longer axons – a nerve fiber in brain – that maintained broader networks with the rest of the brain.

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Also, the mice were better at a battery of cognitive tests than other elderly mice who didn’t receive transfusions. “While prior studies have shown that introducing blood from young mice can reverse cognitive decline in old mice, it is not well understood how this happens,” said lead researcher Helen Goodridge. “Our research suggests one answer lies in specific properties of youthful blood cells.”

However, there is still no evidence that the study can prove to be relevant to human medicine and requires way more testing before experimenting with humans, reported Futurism.

“We are entering an era in which there will be more elderly people in the population, along with an increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, putting a huge burden on the health system,” said Clive Svendsen who also helped lead the research.

“Our work indicates that cognitive decline in mice can be significantly reduced by simply providing young blood cells, which act on the brain to reduce the loss of synapses related to aging.”