Can you clear out "zombie cells" to slow down ageing?
In mice, clearing zombie cells clearly works, but in humans a health benefit has not yet been proven. It is too early to take senolytics yourself; discuss it with your doctor if you are considering it.
Senescent cells, or zombie cells, are cells that no longer divide but also do not die off neatly. They linger and release inflammatory substances that damage the surrounding tissue. Clearing them out therefore sounds like a logical way to slow ageing.
In mice this works remarkably well. Remove the zombie cells and their fitness, coat and kidney function improve, and sometimes they even live longer. So the idea holds up, at least in mice.
In humans it is not there yet. There are agents that can clear zombie cells, such as the cancer drug dasatinib together with the plant compound quercetine. In mice this combination cleared diseased lung cells, and in a first small human test the number of zombie cells in fat tissue dropped. But whether you actually feel healthier or live longer has not been shown in people.
There is one more catch: not all zombie cells are harmful. In wound healing and early development they are actually useful. Switching them all off at once could therefore also do harm. In short: promising in the lab, but too early to take senolytics yourself.
All claims are based on supplied PMID sources. Most clinical indications in humans are limited to cell measurements (no hard clinical endpoints). The majority of mechanistic and causal evidence comes from animal research.