Figure 5.

Damage accumulation accounts for both organismal and cellular aging. Accumulation of damage causes cellular senescence, which contributes to age‐related diseases and, by doing so, affects the average lifespan. Accumulation of damage can affect the maximum lifespan/rate of aging in a senescence‐independent manner (as damage accumulates in all the cells, not only in senescent) and average lifespan/age‐related diseases through the “damage amplification loop” represented by cellular senescence