News archive

There are clear regional differences in the proportion of older adults receiving potentially inappropriate drug treatment in Sweden. In a study published in Frontiers of Pharmacology, researchers at Karolinska Institutet examine regional differences over time and show that these regional variations have decreased over the past decade.

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has decided on new appointments for all 14 members of the Government's Council on Geriatric Research and appointed Mats Thorslund as a new member. This means that NVS has four representatives on the council.

Frailty can be defined as an aging-related syndrome of physiological decline, characterized by marked vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. It is becoming an important public health concern as the aging population increases.

Laura Fratiglioni, Senior professor at Karolinska Institute is awarded the Great Gerontology Prize by the Swedish Gerontological Association for her contribution to Aging Research.

Debora Rizzuto, principal researcher and research group leader at the Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet, has received a project grant for a project entitled "SoundMIND – effects of noise on cognition and mental health", from Forte.

Ingrid Ekström, postdoctoral researcher at the Aging Research Center (ARC) at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, has received project support for research in the humanities and social sciences from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

Hi there, Jie Guo, PhD student at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "Unraveling the relationship between body mass index and cardiometabolic disease, dementia, and survival in old age" on 10 November 2022. What is the main focus?

Hi there, Mahwish Naseer, PhD student at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "Why do older adults seek emergency care? The impact of contextual factors, care, health, and social relations" on 14 October 2022. What is the main focus?

Hi there, Marguerita Saadeh, PhD student at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "Enjoying life and living healthier: impact of behavioral and psychosocial factors on physical function in old age" on 22 September 2022. Tell us, what is the main focus of your thesis?

Three researchers at the Department of Biosciences and Nutriton, Karolinska Institutet, have received grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for their research, 2022.

Epigenetic clocks based on DNA methylation data are widely used aging biomarkers useful to assess biological age in population-based cohorts. However, their utility has been limited by technical noise. In this paper, we present a method that produces high-reliability clocks for applications such as longitudinal studies and intervention trials.

Several co-workers from ARC attended the 26th Nordic Congress of Gerontology (26NKG), which took place on 8-10 June in Odense, Denmark. The theme for this year's congress was "Change& Continuity", and ARC contributed with 12 presentations, 7 posters, and with The National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) as a sponsor.

People with at least two of the diseases type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke have double the risk of developing dementia. Prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease could therefore be a strategy for reducing dementia risk, a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia suggests.

In the spring of 2022, the network Senior Faculty at KI conducted a survey on the activities of KI professors born in or before 1953. The results show that the professors are still heavily engaged in research and bring close to SEK 300 million a year into the university.  

In a new study in Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea have shown how short-term expression of gene editing tools can be used to repair the mutation that causes progeria.

A large database is being built in China aiming to study brain aging and explore effective approaches for prevention of dementia. A study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions (TRCI) provides detailed description on the database as well as characteristics and health conditions of the study population. The database is called MIND-China--multimodal interventions to delay dementia and disability in rural China.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered the preclinical stage in progressive cognitive decline leading to the clinical stage of dementia. A study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, reports that over one fourth of rural-dwelling older adults in China are affected by MCI.

Having an elevated resting heart rate in old age may be an independent risk factor of dementia, according to a study at Karolinska Institutet published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Since resting heart rate is easy to measure and can be lowered through exercise or medical treatment, the researchers believe that it may help to identify people with higher dementia risk for early intervention.

Weakening muscles are a natural part of the ageing process, but for some people with a condition called sarcopenia the decline is abnormally fast. A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that the early stages of sarcopenia could be counteracted with timely interventions designed to preserve physical and cognitive function and manage chronic conditions. The results are published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.

KI researcher Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga, Assistant Professor at the Aging Research Center (ARC), has been awarded a project grant for research within primary care from the Swedish Research Council.

KI researcher Erika Jonsson Laukka has been granted a project grant from the Swedish Research Council for her research within post-COVID syndrome.

A researcher at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, has received USD 200 000 for a project aiming to assess the effect of partial re-programming by the transient expression of the Yamanaka factors to rejuvenate the immune system to extend lifespan and health span.

Four researchers at the Aging Research Center (ARC) have been granted project grants from the Swedish Research Council. Marc Guitart-Masip, Davide Liborio Vetrano and Weili Xu are awarded funding for projects in the field of Medicine and Health category, and Grégoria Kalpouzos for a project in the field of humanities and social sciences.

Researchers at the Aging Research Center (ARC) have been awarded several substantial grants from Forte's annual open call for proposals. Out of the 32 projects, programmes and networks that received funding at KI, five were awarded to ARC. The aim is to analyse enabling and contributing to an in-depth knowledge in research areas or issues.

It is mainly poorly controlled type 2 diabetes that carries an elevated risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, not the diabetes per se, a longitudinal study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows. The study comprises over 2,500 people and is published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

Davide Vetrano has received a 2 MSEK Junior Scholar Grant from the Strategic Research Area in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (SFOepi) for the project “Biomarker signatures of the multimorbidity-frailty continuum: in pursuit of personalized medicine for older adults.”

We are happy to announce that the National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) received the renewal of the research infrastructure grant by the Swedish Research Council (VR) for the period 2023-2028.

Hi there Stefan Fors, researcher at the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet. Along with two other researchers from KI, you have shown that there are inequalities in life expectancy among older people in Sweden and that these differences have increased during the period 2006–2015. Could you tell us a little more?

Postural hypotension, a drastic drop in blood pressure when standing up, is linked to an increased risk of dementia and accelerated progression from cognitive impairment to dementia, even in the absence of symptoms, for instance when feeling dizzy or faint. In a study published in the journal Hypertension, researchers from Karolinska Institutet show that postural hypotension could anticipate worse cognition in old age.

The Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old – SWEOLD – was conducted for the first time in 1992. The aim was, and still is, to investigate what the living conditions of the population over 75 years of age look like in today's Sweden and what changes have taken place in recent years. The researchers behind the study can now describe developments over the past 30 years, a period during which there have been clear changes in welfare.

The Stockholm Writers Group (SWG) published an anthology entitled "Raft of Leaves: On Aging, Death and Foreignness" on 29 May 2021, in remembrance of Marti Parker (1951–2017), researcher, teacher, novelist, poet, and one of the founders of SWG.

Hi there Harpa Sif Eyjólfsdóttir, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (ARC). You will be defending your thesis entitled “Unequal tracks? Studies on work, retirement and health” on 24 May 2021. Could you tell us a little more about it?

Francesca Castoldi, at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition (BioNut), KI, has been awarded a research grant of 300 000 SEK from the Alex and Eva Wallström Foundation for scientific research and education.

As the pandemic lingers on, more and more emphasis is being placed on the indirect, negative effects (i.e. collateral damage) of the pandemic and related restrictions. Sweden took a relatively lenient approach towards mitigating the pandemic during the spring of 2020, relying on voluntary adherence to recommendations and encouraging elderly to stay at home, avoid social gatherings and public transportation, and to remain physically active outdoors in a safe manner.

Hi there Ying Shang, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (ARC). You will be defending your thesis entitled “How can older adults combat diabetes to achieve a longer and healthier life?” on 16 April 2021. Could you tell us a little more about it?

How have social distancing and quarantine measures affected older individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic? Recent research lead by Professor Miia Kivipelto’s team provides some important insights – there were several negative effects but at the same time many lifestyles and behaviors did not substantially change during the first wave of the pandemic, and some even improved.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Gothenburg University have investigated a potential new drug target for the rare genetic disorder Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome that causes accelerated aging in children. The findings in mice are published in the scientific journal eLife and may aid in the development of more effective treatments for this fatal condition.

New professors Eric Westman and Dorota Religa, both Division of Clinical Geriatrics, head and deputy head of division respectively, gave their lectures as new professors at NVS on Wednesday January 20.

Carin Lennartsson has been granted funding to collect data and research materials linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is entitled “The Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old – SWEOLD COVID-19”.

Hi there Giulia Grande, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (ARC). You will be defending your thesis entitled “Development of dementia in older adults: the body-mind connection” on 11 December 2020. Could you give us a brief summary?

Hi Xin Li, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (NVS). On October 28 you will defend your thesis “The relation between aging, dopamine-regulating genes, and neurocognition”. What’s the main focus of the thesis?

The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the increased need for knowledge and skills within the field of geriatric care. KI is offering a specialist nursing programme with a focus on care for the elderly.

People with dementia disease receiving home care feel that they are not treated with the same degree of respect and dignity as people who do not have dementia and receive the same service. That is according to a study by researchers at Mälardalen University (MDH), Karolinska Institutet and Dalarna University, published in The Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA).

New research from Karolinska Institutet shows that the degree of frailty, a measure of a person’s functional level before contracting the disease, can better predict COVID-19 survival than the patient’s age. The analysis of 250 multimorbid older adults who received care for COVID-19 at the Aging Theme at Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Sweden also shows that three out of four of these patients survived. The study has been published in the scientific journal JAMDA.

Researchers at Aging Research Center, KI, and collaborators in Italy and Spain, studied how multimorbidity, the occurrence of multiple chronic diseases in the same individual, changed over time in old individuals during a 12-year period using data from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K). The study is published today in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Christina Dintica, PhD-student at the Division of Aging Research Center. On May 8, 2020 you will defend your thesis: "Oral health & olfactory function : what can they tell us about cognitive ageing?", what's the main focus of the thesis?

People age in different ways. Biological age is a metric that scientists use to predict health risks, the relevance of which can be enhanced by combining different markers. Particularly important markers are frailty and the epigenetic clock, write researchers from Karolinska Institutet in a study published in eLife.

The transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO mediates a wide variety of aging-preventive responses by driving the expression of stress-resistance and longevity promoting genes. Ilke Sen and other members of the Riedel lab could show that transcriptional initiation at many DAF-16/FOXO target genes depends on dephosphorylation of SPT-5 by Protein Phosphatase 4.

On Friday January 31, Yunzhang Wang will defend his thesis "DNA methylation and aging : a longitudinal study of old Swedish twins".

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and from the Netherlands have developed a simple tool that shows the survival probability of a person with dementia disease over three years. This, they hope, will facilitate dialogue with the most seriously affected and help doctors and others plan the necessary care. The study is published today in the scientific journal Neurology.