The use of a compound having a gon-4-ene nucleus, said nucleus having attached thereto, in the 13 position, a polycarbon-alkyl radical having 2 to about 16 carbon atoms, said compound containing at least 19 and up to 40 carbon atoms in its carbon-carbon skeleton, in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment or prevention of a disease or condition characterised by apoptosis or degeneration of mammalian cells.
