Just when you think you’ve got your skincare sussed, you learn there’s a whole new cause of aging to consider. When it comes to skin, every day’s a school day.

Skin is made up of millions of cells, all going about doing their imperative business, whether that be structural reinforcement, repair, immunity or pigmentation. In perfect synchronicity new cells emerge as the old ones die (it’s around 40,000 old skin cells that your body sheds every day) but increasingly we’re learning that some skin cells long outstay their welcome.

We now know there are a number of cells that suffer mitochondrial decline power loss to the point where they can no longer carry out their function but instead of politely dying off like normal aged cells, they cheat death using sneaky biological pathways. Having artfully sidestepped programmed cell death, they remain within the skin in a half living state, hence the affectionate term, zombie cells. It’s these zombie cells that make our skin age faster, gain wrinkles and become less elastic because not only are they unable to renew themselves and regenerate tissue but they add insult to injury by releasing a destructive cocktail of inflammatory proteins that damage all other skin cells surrounding them.

Catchy as it is, 'Zombie cells’ have a real name - senescent cells. Cellular senescence increases as we age but not at the rate that you’d imagine and it’s not the case that elderly folk are riddled with them. In contrast, it’s more specifically the inflammatory chemicals which senescent cells secrete over a prolonged period that causes age-related diseases so you don’t need that many of them to cause mass destruction. Researchers studying them have likened zombie cells in the body to that one bad strawberry in the punnet, rotting everything around it.

Cellular senescence is a huge focus in scientific research right now because it’s widely believed to unlock the doors to longevity and significantly increase our health spans. Investment from Silicon Valley sits comfortably in the billions funding a boom of activity in endeavouring not just the slowing down of the biological clock, but actually turning it back and rejuvenating people to their younger selves.

But it’s not just the Silicon Valley startups and Jeff Bezos’ compatriots who are interested in zombie cells. Scientists of all disciplines have been attempting to eradicate senescent cells for a number of years now, (mainly entailing mice) because they exist throughout the body, contributing to the aging process and age-related diseases.

King’s College London, are testing a new group of drugs, known as ‘senolytics’, demonstrating promising results in eliminating zombie cells. “Zombie cells release chemicals that can be harmful to nearby cells, affecting cell survival and reparative potential. The build-up of these zombie cells in our bodies promotes aging and age-related conditions, including cardiovascular disease,” they report.

KCL also reports “In lab studies, senolytics have been shown to improve conditions such as cataracts, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, heart failure, kidney problems, and age-related loss of muscle. Overall, they have been shown to improve poor physical function and extend healthspan and lifespan.”

This concept of “senolytics” is the next big breakthrough in skin science; scientists are developing small molecules called senolytics to prevent cellular senescence from building up. This could be an annual inoculation, a tablet or indeed, high performance skincare.

It comes as news to no one that the more energy we maintain in skin cells, the younger skin acts and the better the cosmetic effects. Creating a lasting and impactful defence against mitochondrial decline maintains energy levels in skin cells, keeps their regeneration rate up and skin glowing, hence why it’s been on the skincare to-do list for a while now.

This is what the LYMA Laser has been proven to valiantly achieve, through light energy transference. The world’s strongest at-home laser device containing a 500mw clinic grade coherent laser beam able to stimulate genetic triggers and switch cell energy centres back into regeneration mode. This ground-breaking technology slows cellular decline using light technology for both preventative aging and effective reversal. With the LYMA Laser in hand, it seems as though zombie cell attacks aren't quite as apocalyptic for skin as we thought.

Silybum marianum seed oil in LYMA Skincare kills these senescent skin cells along with Triticum vulgare germ extract which provides a source of spermidine. This not only has a role in the removal of senescent cells, but also promotes the growth of a positive skin microbiome.

It will come as news to no one that the more energy we maintain in skin cells, the younger skin acts and the better the cosmetic effects. Creating a lasting and impactful defence against mitochondrial decline maintains energy levels in skin cells, keeps their regeneration rate up and skin glowing, hence why it’s been on the skincare to-do list for a while now.

This is what the LYMA Laser has been proven to valiantly achieve, through light energy transference. The world’s strongest at-home laser device containing a 500mw medical grade coherent laser beam able to stimulate genetic triggers and switch cell energy centres back into regeneration mode. This ground-breaking technology slows cellular decline using light technology for both preventative ageing and effective reversal. With the LYMA Laser in hand, it seems as though zombie cell attacks aren't quite as apocalyptic for skin as we thought.

GG “Our understanding of senescent cells has increased greatly over the past few years. What we do understand is that cells have a finite number of cell divisions that they can undergo through in their lifespan. It is understood that every cell in your body has a finite potential to divide and once those cells have reached the maximum number of cell divisions, they are no longer capable of cell divisions and undergo a process that we know is apoptosis which is programmed cell death.

We also know that there are a number of cells that when they are reaching the end of their natural lifespan but instead of undergoing this process of programmed cell death, they hang around and they misbehave. They produce proteins that are typically responsible for some of the deleterious effects on the surrounding tissues, increased inflammation and destruction of the ECM.

GG “LYMA skincare contains Quercetin, which actually causes these senescent cells to stop misbehaving and to instead go down the natural apoptotic pathway that it was meant to.

Essentially in clearing of these senescent or zombie cells from the extracellular matrix, it allows the niche to be repopulated by healthy, vigorous cells that are responsible for normal tissue production.”