Scientists at the Karolinska Institute have identified genes that make older people more vulnerable to stress and disease. The study was published in the journal Nature Aging.

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

After analyzing the DNA of nearly one million people from the UK and Finland, scientists found hundreds of genetic variants associated with the development of frailty. As it turns out, genes responsible for brain function, the immune system, and metabolism play an important role.

“Frailty does not arise from a single cause. It is a complex process involving many genes, some of which we have discovered for the first time,” said lead author Professor Julia Juhlhava.

According to the scientists, knowledge of genetic markers will help identify people at increased risk of losing their body's resilience in advance — possibly as early as middle age, when there is a chance to slow down or prevent the process.