2026-08-20 カロリンスカ研究所（KI）
＜関連情報＞
- https://news.ki.se/longer-meal-intervals-linked-to-faster-disease-accumulation-in-older-adults
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.70150
高齢者における習慣的な断食期間と多疾患併発の加速 Habitual fasting duration and accelerated multimorbidity in older adults
Luis Kalmbach, David Abbad-Gomez, Giorgi Beridze, Fernando Rodríguez-Artalejo, Davide Liborio Vetrano, Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga, Adrián Carballo-Casla
Journal of Internal Medicine Published:20 August 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.70150
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.
