At times, it can feel like we are at war with our skin. You want clear and radiant skin for a big event, but your skin delivers a blemish the size of a football on your chin. You finally find a skincare routine that tackles your hyperpigmentation effectively, only to catch sight of yourself in the mirror, and realise that your skin has embraced the full effects of gravity. It's a quiet, ongoing battle so many of us know well. And it seems as though the other side has just introduced its deadliest sounding weapon: zombie cells.
What might sound like something straight out of a horror film is, in fact, the name given to cells that have stopped dividing thanks to stress or damage. These cells should, at this point, die, but they don't, hence the 'zombie' moniker. Zombie cells, or senescent cells to use their proper name, occur throughout your body and are often linked to the longevity conversation. Instead of dying, they lie dormant, but they are by no means idle. When they accumalate they send out inflammatory signals, which contribute to age-related diseases, increased inflammation and accelerated ageing.
