Small numbers of senescent cells can cause widespread havoc. Even though they stop dividing, they continue to release tiny proteins called cytokines that cause inflammation and attract immune cells called macrophages that then attack the tissue. Being chronically inflamed is unhealthy: just ask someone with multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, or psoriasis. All these diseases are associated with excess cytokine proteins.2 Inflammation is also a driving force in heart disease, diabetes, and dementia.
Cytokines. Inflammation. Senescent cells
