Aging: Molecular Pathways and Implications on the Cardiovascular System

Figure 1

Aging and health. (a) The global population will increase from 12% in 2015 to almost 22% in 2050 [1]. (b) Despite the increase in lifespan, the individual healthspan does not follow this growth, which means that targeting aging with new therapies is essential to minimize the onset of aging-related diseases. (c) At the cellular level, aging is characterized by an increase of senescent cells in the organism, caused by several factors, including oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, deregulated nutrient sensitivity, autophagy dysfunction, and telomere shortening. The same mechanisms that lead to aging drive towards age-related diseases, in particular, the cardiovascular diseases, the major cause of death in the worldwide.

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