Fig. 2: The concept of geroscience and its approach to age-related disease.

Environmental and genetic factors exert influences on a number of key cellular processes and pathways, which have recently been defined as the hallmarks of ageing¹⁹³. Many of these pathways contribute to the creation of a chronic inflammatory stage and to ageing. These in turn increase the risk for chronic diseases of ageing together with disease-specific risk factors (for example, cholesterol level and high-blood pressure can lead to cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction).