Figure 2. A disruption of the intersection between fundamental aging mechanisms and processes that lead to chronic diseases may delay age-related diseases and disabilities as a group and thereby lengthen health span.
The increasing burden of senescent cells might contribute to the early etiology of age-related diseases and accelerate progression of these diseases following their initiation. Chronic disease pathology, coupled with the spread of senescence to neighboring healthy cells, might further drive cellular senescence, thus contributing to a spiral of increasing inflammation and dysfunction. Among other possibilities, chronic inflammation associated with the SASP, combined with with inflammation from preclinical and overt chronic disease, may predispose to frailty, sarcopenia, and eventually mortality.