As your body ages, increasing amounts of your cells enter a state of cellular senescence. These cells no longer divide or support the tissues of which they are a part, and they emit a cocktail of harmful chemical signals that encourage other nearby cells to also enter the same senescent state.
The presence of senescent cells contributes to decreasing tissue function, increases chronic inflammation, and can even raise the risk of cancer and other age-related diseases.
Senescent cells normally destroy themselves via a programmed process called apoptosis and are removed by the immune system; however, the immune system declines with age, and increasing numbers of these senescent cells escape this disposal process and accumulate.
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