Scientists have discovered why some elderly people are more vulnerable to diseases than others

Genetic mystery of age-related frailty revealed: scientists from Karolinska Institute made a breakthrough in understanding age-related changes in the body. The research is published in the prestigious journal Nature Aging.

Frailty is a condition in which the body loses stability and becomes more susceptible to falls, diseases, and other external factors. It increases the risk of hospitalization and mortality, but why some people face it earlier than others has been unclear until now.

In a large-scale study covering almost a million people from the UK and Finland, scientists discovered hundreds of genetic variants associated with the development of frailty. The results showed that genes responsible for brain function, immune system, and metabolic processes play a key role in this process.

"Frailty doesn't arise from a single cause. It's a complex process associated with multiple genes, and some of them we've discovered for the first time," emphasized the lead author of the study, Professor Julia Julhava.

According to scientists, the discovery of genetic markers opens new horizons in preventive medicine. Now there is an opportunity to identify people with an increased risk of losing body stability in middle age, when there are real chances to slow down or even prevent this process.