Chronological age and biological age mean one thing and the other. Recent research results have shown that age in different cells of the same body may age at different rates, resulting in a phenomenon known as cellular age mismatch. These cells act like youthful and robust ones, and others come into premature senescence.
This discrepancy could be the reason behind some organs’ premature death as compared to others or the selective occurrence of age-related diseases. Such influences as chronic stress, malnutrition, inflammation, and environmental poisons speed up the aging of certain types of cells. Senescent cells cease to divide but do not die, emitting inflammatory signals, which destroy surrounding tissues.
The shocking part? Your skin cells can be biologically younger than the ones of the immune system, or the other way around. This asymmetrical aging interferes with tissue balance and can be the root cause of such diseases as diabetes, neurodegeneration, and cardiovascular diseases.
The knowledge of cellular age mismatch may redefine anti-aging therapies not by increasing the lifespan but by restoring balance between the young and old cells.
Will it be possible to treat the body as a whole, or a particular set of old cells?
MBH/PS