How aging cells may trigger heart attacks and strokes uncovered

Article excerpt

Researchers at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a molecular pathway that transforms stressed or aging cells into inflammatory engines within blood vessel plaques. These activated cells disrupt blood flow and create high-risk lesions prone to clotting, a discovery that could explain a fundamental mechanism linking aging to heart attacks and strokes. The findings pinpoint how cellular senescence, the process of cells aging and losing function, directly contributes to cardiovascular disease by triggering abnormal activity in the plaque that lines arteries.