Research
Mixed
COPD represents an accelerated aging of the lung, characterized by shared mechanisms such as telomere shortening, cellular senescence, and impaired autophagy.
Understanding COPD as accelerated lung aging may open avenues for therapies targeting aging mechanisms (like senolytics or autophagy enhancers) in addition to standard smoking cessation and bronchodilators.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
the slowly progressive airway obstruction of COPD and in particular the emphysema could represent an acceleration of the normal decline of lung function with age.
Why this rating
Supported by meta-analyses and molecular studies cited in the review.
Source
The Continuum of Aging and Age-Related Diseases: Common Mechanisms but Different Rates
Claudio Franceschi et al. · Frontiers in Medicine · 2018
DOI 10.3389/fmed.2018.00061
narrative_reviewCited 967×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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