Scientists from the UF Health Cancer Center have made a surprising discovery about why people may develop conditions like obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease as they get older.
The culprit? Tiny hidden changes in blood cells that happen naturally with age.
These changes, known as clonal hematopoiesis, occur when stem cells in the bone marrow—those that make new blood cells—pick up random mutations in their DNA. Most of the time, these changes don’t cause problems.
But sometimes, a stem cell with a mutation can grow faster and start taking over the blood system.
About 1 in 10 older people have this condition, and it’s been linked to a higher chance of getting blood cancers like leukemia.
Until now, many experts believed that problems like obesity and diabetes might cause these blood cell changes. But this new research shows the opposite may be true: the mutated blood cells might actually be causing these health issues.
The research team, led by Dr. Bowen Yan and Dr. Olga Guryanova, wanted to understand this better. They took a common mutation found in clonal hematopoiesis and placed it into the blood cells of healthy mice. The result was eye-opening.
These mice started eating more, gained weight faster, developed high blood sugar, and even showed early signs of liver disease. And when the mice were fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet similar to fast food meals, the effects were even worse. They became extremely overweight and unhealthy in a short time.
This means that silent mutations in the blood may be secretly pushing people toward chronic diseases, even before they show any symptoms. Knowing about this hidden risk could be life-changing.
In the future, a simple blood test might be able to detect these changes early. With that knowledge, doctors could recommend lifestyle changes like a healthier diet or more exercise to lower the chance of serious illness and even cancer.
This is especially important because obesity is now the biggest preventable cause of cancer, even more than smoking. If we can stop obesity and related diseases before they start, we might also lower cancer risk at the same time.
The researchers are continuing their work by trying to understand how these blood cell mutations cause harm in the body. They’re also planning to test if existing diabetes and weight-loss drugs might help prevent or reverse these effects.
This study changes the way we think about aging and chronic disease. It suggests that our blood system—something we rarely blame—could secretly be influencing our weight, our blood sugar, and our risk of long-term illness. By catching these changes early, we might one day be able to stay healthier for longer.
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The study is published in Journal of Clinical Investigation.
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