Scientists believe they have uncovered the reason we age. Pausing cell death could slow the aging process, prevent cancer and ward off brain deterioration, according to a new study from researchers from the University of Cambridge.  

Taming cell necrosis may be the key. Necrosis is a form of messy cell death that causes chaos in the body, spilling toxins and causing widespread tissue damage. According to Study Finds, if necrosis could be controlled, we’d have a valuable tool to slow aging and treat disease more successfully.

The new study, published in the journal Oncogene, states that necrosis is a “fundamental driver of loss of resilience and biological decline.” The challenge is to find ways to intervene and stop this irreversible cause of biological degeneration. So far, necrosis has remained untreatable and is considered an unavoidable aspect of biology, according to the study authors.

The scientists, led by Carina Kern, founder of LinkGevity, a U.K. based biotech company, claim that inhibiting necrosis could revolutionize treatments for acute and chronic age-related conditions like cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and even neurodegeneration. This revolutionary approach would also bolster resilience and slow the aging process itself.

“Necrosis is uncontrolled cell death that marks the irreversible threshold of biological degeneration,” wrote the authors. It’s characterized by cellular chaos including ruptured membranes, DNA fragments and inflammatory signals to nearby tissues. This damaging cell death process is unlike the carefully orchestrated, everyday death of old damaged or infected cells called apoptosis, which is a very controlled and clean process.

Necrosis can hinder cancer treatments, said the study authors. Necrosis helps aggressive tumors grow by fostering new blood-vessel growth along with genetic instability and immune dysfunction. This occurs particularly in breast, kidney, prostate and endometrial cancers.

Necrosis is also a destructive force in nearly every age-related disease including kidney disease, heart attacks, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The scientists found that necrosis is the central driver of aging itself since our cells become more susceptible to necrosis with age.

The researchers suggest that developing novel therapeutics to target necrosis could slow biological degeneration and bolster resilience. This approach may revolutionize treatments for chronic conditions like cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration.

One possible approach would be to target the loss of calcium balance that triggers necrotic cell death, says Study Finds. However, previous attempts to block calcium channels in other diseases like stroke have failed.

While no specific treatments are detailed yet, understanding and inhibiting necrosis could pave the way for innovative therapies. The payoff could be enormous, conquering one of the “final frontiers in medicine — a destructive process long accepted as untreatable and inevitable,” wrote the authors.