Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Prolonged fasting has been linked to metabolic benefits in younger adults, but its effects on chronic diseases in older populations remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between habitual fasting duration and 15-year chronic disease accumulation in older adults, overall, within organ systems, and between age groups. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen, a longitudinal population-based cohort of 2981 predominantly community-dwelling adults aged ≥60 years. Habitual fasting duration was the longest interval between two typical eating occasions within a 24-h window. Multimorbidity was the total number of chronic diseases (out of 60) at each visit, analyzed overall and within cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, and musculoskeletal organ systems. Multivariate linear mixed models estimated the association between habitual fasting duration and the annual rate of multimorbidity accumulation, overall and stratified by age (<78 vs. ≥78 years). RESULTS: Compared with the lowest habitual fasting quartile (6-11.5 h), participants in the highest quartile (14-24 h) experienced steeper annual accumulation of total chronic diseases (β = 0.119; 95% confidence interval: 0.070, 0.167), cardiovascular diseases (0.022 [0.006, 0.038]), and neuropsychiatric diseases (0.019 [0.005, 0.033]), but not musculoskeletal diseases. The association with total chronic disease accumulation was apparent in adults aged ≥78 years (β = 0.099 [0.031, 0.168]) but absent in those <78 years (-0.009 [-0.078, 0.061]). Findings remained consistent across sensitivity analyses addressing reverse causation, measurement bias, and residual confounding. CONCLUSION: In older adults, particularly the older old, longer habitual fasting duration was associated with faster chronic disease accumulation, suggesting it may be detrimental in advanced age.
Source: Journal of Internal Medicine
DOI: 10.1111/joim.70150
Institutions: Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Hospital Del Mar, Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Stockholm Gerontology Research Center Foundation
Language: English
Topic: Dietary Effects on Health
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,780
Awards: G1059200768, G2039111946, G2927733066, Identifying new strategies for integrated person-centered care of older adults with dementia: from early signs to severe stages, National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR/2023-2028), G4044091725, Monitoring older adults’ health for preventive and early interventions: use of the Health Assessment Tool (HAT) in the Swedish primary care setting, Older adults’ contribution to informal caregiving: temporal trends, profiles and adverse health consequences, Biomarker signatures of progressing multimorbidity: in pursuit of personalized approaches to clinically complex older individuals, G8460893602
OpenAlex ID: W7203832471