What Is Cellular Senescence and How It Affects Aging

The human body contains trillions of cells that work together to carry out functions such as digestion, circulation, cognition, and respiration.

As we grow from childhood into adulthood, our bodies work at optimum capacity to mature and develop. However, once we reach adulthood, that growth stops. And though some systems continue to have the ability to repair and regenerate, certain aspects of the body begin to deteriorate.

Over time, deterioration and degeneration accelerates due to the shutdown and dysfunction of our cells—one of these presses is called cellular senescence.

Cellular senescence is a complex process that requires deeper understanding to address effectively. Once you understand what causes cells to stop functioning, you can take steps to counteract it and help your body function well over time.

Below, we’ll dive into the topic of cellular senescence, looking at what it is, how it occurs, and what role it plays in aging. We’ll also examine the causes of senescence, the symptoms that indicate an accumulation of senescent cells, and how certain health conditions can accelerate cellular deterioration.

Read through to the end to discover practical strategies and lifestyle changes that can help you restore healthy cell function and regain control of your body.

What is Cellular Senescence?

Cellular senescence can best be described as “the irreversible cessation of cell division of normally proliferating cells.”[1]

Your cells are designed to grow, function, and then ultimately die off to make space for new, healthy cells to replace them. This is called “cellular turnover” and plays a crucial role in the body’s ability to maintain organ and tissue homeostasis, or “normal function”.

However, certain internal and external factors—such as free radical damage or chronic stress—can disrupt how cells grow, function, and die. This disruption can increase cellular senescence.

Cells effectively get “trapped” in the function stage. They’re done dividing, however they are metabolically active yet they don’t die off. They steadily become less efficient, and may release inflammatory molecules (called senescence associated secretory phenotypes, or SASPs) that trigger inflammation and may even damage nearby cells.

But because they resist a process called apoptosis, and no longer undergo normal turnover, they avoid death. As a result, they remain in the body and prevent new, healthy cells from forming.

Over time, more and more of these senescent cells accumulate in multiple tissues, leading to wider-spread dysfunction. A number of health conditions have been associated with cellular senescence. These conditions include cancer, Alzheimer’s, osteoarthritis, and metabolic disorders, to name a few.

The Role of Senescent Cells in the Aging Process

Now, it’s important to understand that senescent cells do play a crucial role in certain bodily functions. For example, senescent cells facilitate wound healing by triggering growth factors that activate the body’s tissue repair processes. They may also increase inflammation at the injury site by secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always a good thing.

Dysfunctional cells can release excess inflammatory chemicals and stimulate overproduction of keratinocytes. This may cause excess scar tissue and slow the healing process. The effects often persist even after the wound appears to heal, as the damaged cells remain in place.

This can lead to widespread inflammation throughout the body, which slows down bodily functions and strains internal systems.

Research suggests that senescent cells “may contribute to tissue remodeling, organismal aging, and many age-related diseases”[2] and contribute to the degeneration of critical systems. The more cells turn senescent, the faster your body may deteriorate, which leads to accelerated biological aging.

Causes of Cellular Senescence

There are a number of things that can induce senescence, and some of them include:

• Telomere erosion, which is a natural side effect of the cellular division process;
• DNA damage, caused by free radicals, oxidative stress, and reactive oxygen species;
• Activated oncogenes (oncogene induced senescence) and inactivated tumor suppressors;
• Chronic inflammatory signaling, including exposure to cytokines like interferon-γ or TNF-α;
• Epigenetic and mitotic stress induces cellular senescence (called stress induced senescence);
• Overexposure to UV radiation, such as from direct sunlight or excessive use of tanning beds;
• Genetic factors inherent at birth, but which only become prominent concerns once you reach adulthood.

All of these are factors that might play a role in inducing cell cycle arrest, which can lead to long-term health complications.

Signs and Effects of Senescent Cells in the Body

The presence of large numbers of senescent cells in your body often results in the following:

• Faster wrinkling or skin aging: Senescent cells in your skin can lead to accelerated skin aging, including wrinkles, sagging skin, and loss of firmness. This can be the result of both reduced collagen and increased inflammation, a side effect of skin cell senescence.
• Functional decline in crucial cells: This includes the cells in your eyes (leading to vision loss), muscles (leading to reduced mobility), and even your brain (leading to reduced cognitive function).
• Age-related disease prevalence: Cellular senescence has been linked to a wide range of age-related conditions, including osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stroke, and cardiovascular disease.
• Cancer: Senescence prevents early cancer development by halting damaged cells from dividing. However, persistent senescent cells may contribute to tumor progression.
• Tissue dysfunction: This can lead to decreased function of your body’s organs, glands, or other important tissues. It can also slow down remodeling of those tissues in case of injuries or wounds.
• Widespread inflammation: Inflammatory diseases and high levels of inflammatory markers are often a strong indicator of cellular senescence.

Senescent cells can also interfere with the immune system’s ability to clear out damaged or abnormal cells, allowing dysfunction to spread more easily. Over time, this persistent cellular damage and inflammation may contribute to the development or progression of chronic kidney disease, among other long-term conditions.

Impact of Cellular Senescence on Tissue Health

Cellular senescence directly impacts how well tissues function and recover. As senescent cells build up, they disrupt normal repair processes, promote inflammation, and weaken nearby tissue.

Here is how the process goes when you have a large number of senescent cells in the body:

• Inflammation is triggeredby toxins or as a DNA damage response, which can increase the risk of chronic inflammation.
• The inflammatory molecules released (senescence-associated secretory phenotypes) can damage tissue nearest the secreting cells.
• Tissue breaks down more quickly, but the body is slower to heal due to inflammation and reduced availability of healthy, young cells.
• Disease risk increases due to reduced healing and increased inflammation.

Simply said, cellular senescence can cause serious problems for healthy tissue, and may even prevent damaged or injured tissue from healing.

Health Conditions Linked to Cellular Senescence

A number of health conditions have been linked to cellular senescence, including:

• Osteoporosis;
• Renal disease;
• Parkinson’s disease;
• Alzheimer’s disease;
• Atherosclerosis;
• Cardiovascular disease;
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease;
• Vascular dementia;
• Stroke;
• Pulmonary fibrosis;
• Tumors (including brain tumors).

The link between cellular senescence and multiple chronic diseases highlights its role in long-term tissue damage and system-wide decline. Addressing senescent cell accumulation is a targeted approach that may reduce disease burden and support healthier aging.

How to Reduce Senescent Cell Accumulation

The good news is that cellular senescence isn’t something you just have to accept as an inevitable side effect of aging.

Some level of cellular senescence is normal, but it can be reduced. By taking targeted action, you can help prevent further cell cycle arrest, clear existing senescent cells, and support the regeneration of healthy, functional cells.

Very possibly two of the best strategies to reduce the accumulation of senescent cells is through healthy caloric restriction and “fasting”.

Research [3] makes it clear that the (good) stress placed on the body by fasting or a calorie restricted diet, triggers the body’s internal mechanisms to detect senescent cells and eliminate them through what is called autophagy. Autophagy degrades and recycles senescent cells to replace them with healthy normal cells.

Now, it’s important to note that it’s “calorie restriction without malnutrition”, meaning reduced caloric intake without depriving your body of sufficient nutrients and energy.

That’s where fasting and intermittent fasting come into play!

With intermittent fasting, you are depriving your body of calories and nutrients, but only for a short amount of time.

Some variations of fasting include:

• You fast for 24 hours, once or twice a week (Must be approved by your medical doctor)
• You fast for 16 hours a day, then eat 8 hours a day.
• You fast for 18 hours a day, then eat 6 hours a day.
• You eat just one meal per day and fast the rest of the time.

You are still getting enough calories and nutrients to maintain healthy bodily function, but during the fasting periods, your body triggers autophagy to degrade and recycle any cells that aren’t functioning at optimum capacity. Inevitably, senescent cells get swept up in the purge and the way is clear for new, healthy cells to be released.

Always consult your doctor before undertaking any diet or eating plan as extreme as different types of fasting, intermittent fasting or calorie restriction. Done incorrectly, they may contribute to biological aging in other ways—such as through nutrient deficiencies.

Done correctly, however, a calorie restricted diet or fasting can be the most effective solution for getting rid of senescent cells and keeping them from accumulating again.

Lifestyle Choices That Support Healthy Aging

Atop the calorie restricted diets, there are a few things you can do to support healthy aging and prevent the accumulation of senescent cells.

Here are the best ones among them:

• Eat more antioxidant-rich foods. Antioxidants will combat free radicals and reactive oxygen species that accelerate telomere shortening and cause your cells to become senescent. They can also curb widespread and chronic inflammation.
• Reduce stress. Chronic stress can lead to chronic inflammation and cellular dysfunction. Meditate, practice mindfulness, do Yoga, walk more, spend more time outside, and engage in hobbies that help you to relax—all crucial for keeping cellular senescence at bay.
• Prevent exposure to environmental hazards. For example, spend less time in the sun and protect your skin against UV radiation that could accelerate skin cell senescence. Avoid overuse of tanning beds or salons. Limit your exposure to toxins and chemicals at work, as well as vehicle pollution and smog.
• Sleep better. Sleep is crucial for maintaining a healthy cellular turnover rate and restoring your body to homeostasis. A lack of sleep contributes by “promoting biological aging due to increased accumulation of damage that initiates cell cycle arrest and enhanced expression of the senescence associated secretory phenotype, which together increase susceptibility to cellular senescence.” [4]

A few small changes to your lifestyle can lead to massive improvements in your cellular health and drastically decrease your risk of senescent cells forming.

Research and Future Therapies Targeting Senescent Cells

A great deal of research is currently being done into cellular senescence, and a number of treatments and therapies are being developed as a result.

Senotherapeutics (therapies specifically targeting senescence) currently include:

• Senolytics, or drugs that target senescent cells for elimination.
• Senomorphics, or drugs that reduce the toxic and inflammatory effect of senescent cells.
• Immune-mediated elimination of senescent cells, which empowers the immune cells to identify and eradicate these cells.

Researchers are working to directly target the pathways that drive senescence. Current approaches focus on enhancing DNA repair and applying epigenetic interventions to delay or potentially reverse the onset of cellular senescence.

The research is still in its infancy, but it holds so much promise for the future. The day may not be far off when our science has reached a stage where we can treat and prevent cellular senescence—and in so doing, make drastic strides of progress in the fight against disease and aging.

Wrapping Up

Cellular senescence is a very real threat that affects us all, regardless of who we are or where we come from. It’s a natural side effect of critical functions like cellular division and growth. The best we can hope to do is combat it, but we’re still a long way off from stopping it in its tracks.

Thankfully, as you saw above, you have options to help deal with the problem.

A calorie-restricted diet and fasting can trigger autophagy and activate your body’s internal waste elimination systems to purge the growth-stunted cells for you. Paired with reduced stress, increased antioxidant intake, better sleep quality, and less exposure to toxins and hazards that contribute to senescence, you can give your body a fighting chance.

It’s worth the effort, too! By staving off or reducing cellular senescence, you can slow biological aging and reduce your risk of serious diseases. With fewer senescent cells to gum up your internal works, you’ve got a better shot at a longer and healthier life.

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Frequently Asked Questions

At what age does your body start to decline?

Typically, your body is in the “growth” stage from childhood and through adolescence until your early adult years (20-25). It begins to decline in your 30s, with that decline growing more noticeable throughout your 40s and 50s.

Can you reverse senescence?

While science doesn’t currently have any therapies or treatments to reverse senescence, research shows a great deal of promise.

Cellular senescence is no longer viewed as a simple state of “on or off”, when the cells are functioning or frozen. Instead, it’s more of a dynamic, ever-changing state. Research suggests that with the right therapies, senescent and damaged cells may someday soon be reverted to their original state, or at least restored to a normal, healthy cell cycle.

What diseases are associated with senescence?

The diseases most commonly impacting senescence include neurodegenerative conditions (including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s), cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis.

How is immunosenescence different from cellular senescence?

Immunosenescence refers specifically to age-related changes in immune cells, while cellular senescence affects all cell types and involves a permanent halt in cell division due to stress or damage.

Resources

Senescence

Senescence and aging: Causes, consequences, and therapeutic avenues

Cellular senescence: the good, the bad and the unknown

CellAge: The Database of Cell Senescence Genes

Cellular Senescence

Cellular Senescence: What, Why, and How