Not an expert but throwing this information into the mix…the other half of cell turnover is specialization of the cells to perform a function. If you’re growing and the new cells mature into functional cells, that’s good. If you’re creating cells at a high rate and they don’t mature into specialized cells, then they are clogging up the system and using up resources like energy. This is a scenario associated with cancer. They are called undifferentiated cells. Again, just filling in a piece that I know from patho. Not a doctor.
Two aspects:
– children tend to have a good immune system that is able to detect defective cells quickly and destroy them
– their cells are younger and have not gone through as many cell divisions as an adults cells. Each division comes with a certain chance of mutations so the older the individual the higher the chances of cancer
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