News archive

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University have developed a new tool that estimates a cell’s biological age by analysing its gene activity. In the journal Advanced Science, they also demonstrate how the tool can be used to identify substances that influence cellular ageing.

People with metabolic syndrome tend to have brains that appear older than their actual age, according to a new study published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. The new findings provide fresh insights into the biological processes that may link metabolic health to the brain.

A healthier diet may be associated with a lower risk of dementia among older adults, including those with blood biomarkers indicating an increased biological risk of Alzheimer's disease pathology. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in JAMA Network Open.

Lively cheers and plenty of excitement filled the room as 20 ARC colleagues faced off in this year’s table tennis tournament on 9 June. Susanna Gentili and Frida Smids, who had envisioned the tournament, were in charge.

The ARC Junior Retreat 2026 was held on 2 June at Högberga Gård, Lidingö. A group of 27 doctoral students, postdocs, research assistants and visiting junior researchers attended the one-day event.

On 21 May 2026, a delegation from Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing visited the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet. The visit, hosted by ARC and the Transdisciplinary Research Center for Personalized Dementia Prevention & Care (TraCeDem), focused on the interaction between research, policy, and care practice within the Swedish health and social care system.

People with good physical fitness in their 30s and 50s have more elastic arteries later in life. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal Scientific Reports. The association remains regardless of cholesterol levels and other risk factors.

Associate Professor Sara Hägg from the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics has been elected to join the Academy of Geroscience.

A key international handbook on how to improve care for older people is now available in Swedish. The document, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), focuses on person-centred care in primary healthcare and has been carefully translated with help from experts at Karolinska Institutet and partner organisations.

Laura Fratiglioni, senior professor at NVS, was awarded the honor of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy at a symposium on healthy aging at the Italian Embassy on April 28. She received the honor in recognition of her groundbreaking research in aging.

A new research project at Karolinska Instutet has been awarded a five-year grant from FORMAS, the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development, to study how long-term exposure to air pollution and transport noise may influence the risk of developing dementia, using large population-based data from Sweden.

Forte has announced long-term funding for two national research centres aimed at strengthening knowledge on care and support for people living with dementia. One of the centres, Tracedem – KI Transdisciplinary Research Center for Personalized Dementia Prevention & Care, has been operating at Karolinska Institutet since January 2026.

Older people, particularly women, who start treatment with thiazide-type diuretics are at increased risk of developing low sodium levels in the blood. This is shown by a large registry study from the Karolinska Institutet published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The Activity Report 2023–2025 provides an overview of ARC’s multidisciplinary research on brain ageing, dementia, mental health, geroscience, multimorbidity, frailty, health inequalities, care organisation, and social relations in older age.

Blood protein levels change markedly already during childhood and adolescence, and differences between girls and boys become increasingly pronounced with age. This is shown by a new study in Nature Communications from Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with colleagues from SciLifeLab and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The results suggest that blood protein levels change over the course of a lifetime, rendering adult reference values inadequate for children and adolescents.

Most older adults maintain stable cognitive functioning, independence and healthy social lives as they age, according to a new longitudinal study from Karolinska Institutet. The findings also show that stronger social support may help some people cope with declining cognition without losing everyday independence.

KI Transdisciplinary Research Center for Personalized Dementia Prevention & Care (TraCedem), held its kick-off on 1 April 2026, at Karolinska Institutet. The newly established centre brings together researchers, clinicians, and stakeholders to advance dementia research across the full care pathway.

Why do some people, though not all, develop several long-term illnesses and functional impairments as they get older? A new research project at Karolinska Institutet aims to find answers by looking at ageing as a connected whole, rather than a set of separate diseases.

Abigail Dove, researcher at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the SSMF Postdoctoral Grant 2026 for a project investigating how cardiometabolic conditions such as obesity, high blood sugar and high blood pressure are linked to brain ageing and dementia.

Many older adults in Sweden help care for partners, relatives or friends, but those who provide the most intensive support often face challenges that affect their own health. This is shown in new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet.

An opinion piece published in the Swedish daily Expressen highlights dementia as a growing societal challenge and refers to a recent report from Karolinska Institutet on the number of people living with dementia and the associated costs in Sweden. The report provides updated estimates of prevalence, future trends and the economic impact of the disease.

A group of senior leaders from Flemish organisations working with older people (In4Care) visited the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet on 25 March 2026. The visit, hosted by the Transdisciplinary Research Center for Personalized Dementia Prevention & Care (TraCeDem), focused on how research, policy and care practice interact within the Swedish system.

Although people in Japan tend to live long lives, this does not necessarily mean they are healthier than other populations. New research from Karolinska Institutet and collaborators shows that Japanese and Swedish older adults have a similar number of healthy life years – if ‘healthy’ is defined as living at home without the need for formal elder care. However, mortality among individuals receiving elder care is lower in Japan than in Sweden.

Behavioural changes – such as anxiety, depression, irritability, apathy or agitation, collectively known as neuropsychiatric symptoms – may appear long before a dementia diagnosis. A new study from Karolinska Institutet and the University of Perugia, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, shows that these symptoms form recognizable patterns across older adults ranging from cognitively unimpaired to those with dementia.

Frustration behind the wheel can increase the risk of accidents – but that is far from the only danger. Meet three researchers who are interested in road safety.

When ARC turned 25 last year, they received a grant from Forte to host a day dedicated to research on aging. On February 5, they therefore organized “Forum for Aging Research – What have we achieved and where are we heading?”, bringing together researchers from across Sweden working in the field of aging to share their findings.

Hi Alexander Kvist, doctoral student at the Division of Physiotherapy. On March 6 you will defend your thesis ”Evaluating complex walking in aging and neurological disease : from motor behavior to brain activity”. What is the main focus of the thesis?

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that the nervous system's own immune cells help protect the spinal cord from age-related damage. The results, which may contribute to new knowledge about how certain neurological diseases arise, are published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

A small set of common blood biomarkers predicts which older adults will develop specific combinations of chronic diseases – and how quickly, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Medicine reports.

A 47-year-long Swedish study at Karolinska Institutet reveals how fitness, strength, and muscle endurance change during adulthood. The results show that physical ability starts to deteriorate as early as age 35, but it is never too late to start exercising.

The Aging Research Center (ARC) celebrated its 25th anniversary on 1 December 2025, with an afternoon filled with reflections, presentations and heartfelt reunions. The event highlighted how ARC has grown from a bold idea shared by four founders to become one of Sweden’s most significant research centres focusing on ageing and the health and living conditions of older people.

Older adults with reduced kidney function show higher levels of Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers in the blood, but are not more likely to develop dementia, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet.

What is it like to study how older people live and receive care in different parts of the world? KI researcher Pernilla Alencar Siljehag is finding out first-hand during her research stay in Brazil, thanks to travel grants from Karolinska Institutet, SWEAH, and Svenska Sällskapet för Medicinsk Forskning.

The Aging Research Center (ARC) was established in the year 2000, at a time when geriatric research was still in its infancy and little was known about dementia-related diseases. This happened during a period when politicians and decision-makers began to take an interest in the growing ageing population and the challenges that were becoming apparent in healthcare and social care as a result.

People today live longer than ever before. They also reach old age with more peers still alive and smaller families. Still, individuals over 80, who make up the fastest-growing age group in the population, are often not included in studies. This thesis examines how social life has changed over time in old age and how social connections are related to wellbeing.

Hi Francesca Eroli, doctoral student at the Division of Neurogeriatrics. On November 7 november you will defend your thesis ”Toward precision medicine : sex-specific effects of multi-drug therapies in mouse models of aging and Alzheimer's pathology” What is the main focus of the thesis?

A new doctoral thesis by Giorgi Beridze, recently published at Karolinska Institutet, sheds light on the relationship between multimorbidity and kidney health in older adults. The research explores how kidney function is ascertained in older adults, how chronic diseases cluster into patterns and how these patterns influence kidney function and the risk of developing albuminuria—a condition marked by the presence of protein in urine, often an early sign of kidney damage.

Several colleagues and affiliates from the Aging Research Centre (ARC) recently participated in the 21st European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) Congress, held from 24 to 26 September 2025 at the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavík, Iceland. This year’s congress, themed “New Landscapes in Geriatric Medicine”, brought together experts from across Europe and beyond to address the evolving challenges and innovations in the care of older adults.

Eating a healthy plant-based diet may lower the risk of dementia in older people with cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, or stroke. This is shown by a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in JACC: Advances, which compared different types of plant-based diets.

On 29 September 2025, Isabelle von Saenger, postdoctoral researcher at the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet, had the opportunity to share key insights from her thesis examining the evolution of care provision for older people in Sweden over the past three decades. The event, coordinated by Omsorgsforum, brought together an influential group of stakeholders committed to shaping the future of elderly care.

People who sleep poorly are more likely than others to have brains that appear older than they actually are. This is according to a comprehensive brain imaging study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal eBioMedicine. Increased inflammation in the body may partly explain the association.

On 4 November 2024, Karolinska Institutet (KI) hosted the symposium “Beyond Amyloid and Tau: The Importance of Co-Pathologies in Alzheimer's Disease” at the Nobel Forum, Stockholm. Jointly organized by the Center for Alzheimer Research (CAR) and the Aging Research Center (ARC), both part of the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), the event was supported by the Journal of Internal Medicine (JIM) and the Strategic Research Area in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at KI.

Thirty Nordic ageing and health researchers will gather in Stockholm on 11–12 September 2025 for the SIA joint senior and junior workshop. Hosted by the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet, this event brings together established and early-career experts to foster discussion and collaboration on social inequalities in ageing.

Once again, the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet (KI) will host the course titled "Societal and Life-course Perspectives on Inequalities in Aging" this fall semester. The course is arranged in partnership with the Swedish National Graduate School on Ageing and Health (SWEAH, Lund University) and brings together students from various universities throughout Sweden.

On September 2, 2025, seven physicians, five occupational therapists, and five physiotherapists were awarded diplomas by H.M. The Queen during a formal ceremony at Drottningholm Court Theatre. The ceremony marked the completion of the Master's courses in dementia care developed by Karolinska Institutet in close collaboration with Stiftelsen Silviahemmet. The participants may now use the titles Silvia Physician, Silvia Occupational Therapist, and Silvia Physiotherapist.

Researchers from across the Asia-Pacific region met in Jinan, China, on 7–8 June 2025 at the World-Wide FINGERS Network meeting, to share new ideas on how to help prevent dementia and memory loss. Over 50 researchers and students from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Sweden, and China took part in the event.

We are delighted to share some of the many important reflections from the NKG2024 congress held in Stockholm in June 2024, in the form of a newly published perspective paper entitled "Ageing in a Transforming World: Insights for Future Research and Policy from the 27th Nordic Congress of Gerontology".

The Aging Research Center (ARC) had the privilege of hosting a symposium that brought together leading scholars to celebrate the remarkable contributions of Professor Johan Fritzell to research on social policy, inequalities, and health over the course of his career.

Two new studies from Karolinska Institutet have investigated how mutations that occur in muscles and blood vessels over time can affect ageing. The studies, which are published in Nature Aging, show that such mutations can reduce muscle strength and accelerate blood vessel ageing. The results can be of significance to the treatment of age-related diseases.

A study recently published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology shows that cardiovascular health is affected not only by the total amount of physical activity, but also by how often you move during the day. Among the oldest participants, the study found that several short walks per day had a protective effect, regardless of pace. This correlation remained even when adjusted for total walking time.