Chronic stress has been shown to promote numerous aging-related diseases, and to accelerate the aging process itself. Of particular interest is the impact of stress on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent form of dementia. The vast majority of AD cases have no known genetic cause, making it vital to identify the environmental factors involved in the onset and progression of the disease. Age is the greatest risk factor for AD, and measures of biological aging such as shorter telomere length, significantly increase likelihood for developing AD. Stress is also considered a crucial contributor to AD, as indicated by a formidable body of research, although the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Here we review human and animal literature on the impact of stress on AD and discuss the mechanisms implicated in the interaction. In particular we will focus on the burgeoning body of research demonstrating that senescent cells, which accumulate with age and actively drive a number of aging-related diseases, may be a key mechanism through which stress drives AD.

慢性压力已被证明会促进许多与衰老相关的疾病，并加速衰老过程本身。特别令人感兴趣的是压力对阿尔茨海默病（AD）的影响，阿尔茨海默病是最常见的痴呆症。绝大多数 AD 病例没有已知的遗传原因，因此确定与疾病发生和进展有关的环境因素至关重要。年龄是 AD 的最大危险因素，而端粒长度缩短等生物衰老指标会显着增加患 AD 的可能性。大量研究表明，压力也被认为是 AD 的一个重要因素，尽管这种关联的机制仍不清楚。在这里，我们回顾了关于压力对 AD 影响的人类和动物文献，并讨论了相互作用中涉及的机制。我们将特别关注新兴的研究，这些研究表明衰老细胞随着年龄的增长而积累，并积极驱动许多与衰老相关的疾病，这可能是压力驱动 AD 的关键机制。