MetaQon Launches Genetic Screening for 53 Age-Related Health Risks to Help Indian Families Stay Ahead of Their Parents’ Health
MetaQon Precision Health today announced the India availability of its Elderly Care genetic panel, designed to help identify predisposition to 53 age-related conditions spanning nine categories: cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, osteoporosis, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, respiratory disease, vision and hearing loss, mental health conditions including depression and anxiety, and how a person may respond to common medicines such as aspirin, statins and clopidogrel. The panel is designed to be read and acted on by a treating clinician, giving families and physicians additional information to support earlier, more informed conversations about an older adult’s health.
Most Indian families are occupied with the same things at once: building a career, raising children, and trying to get ahead. Their parents are ageing in the background of all of it. India already has an estimated 153 million people aged 60 or older, a number projected to more than double to 347 million by 2050. A nationally representative study of Indian adults in that age group, the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, found that nearly a quarter already live with two or more chronic conditions at the same time, with hypertension affecting close to a third, bone and joint disease close to one in five, and diabetes around one in seven, well before most families start paying close attention.
The challenge MetaQon is addressing is not necessarily a lack of care. It is that health conversations for older adults often start after a diagnosis rather than before it. A hip fracture can be the first sign of osteoporosis a family notice. Memory changes are sometimes attributed to normal ageing well before anyone raises them with a doctor. A parent already on daily medication for one condition may be at greater risk of a poor reaction to another, since genetic variation can influence how a person’s body responds to certain drugs. MetaQon’s Elderly Care panel analyses a person’s genetic predisposition across all nine categories and combines that with their existing diagnostics and lifestyle information, giving a treating clinician additional information to consider, not a substitute for their own evaluation.
The pharmacogenetics component is particularly relevant for older adults, many of whom are already on daily aspirin, statins, or blood thinners such as clopidogrel. Genetic variation can affect how a person metabolises these medicines, and flagging that alongside a person’s other results is intended to give a treating physician additional context to weigh alongside standard clinical practice, not to replace it.
“We are all running a race, careers, families, plans for the future, and while we are busy with that, our parents are getting older,” said Yashpal Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of MetaQon Precision Health. “The question we keep coming back to is whether we are actually staying ahead of their health risks, or just responding to them after something has already gone wrong. Caring for a parent should not only mean showing up during a crisis. It should mean knowing enough, early enough, to help avoid one.”
The intended audience is twofold: adult children who are managing an ageing parent’s health often from a different city, and the parents themselves, most of whom have never had a reason to think about their own genetic risk profile until a diagnosis forced the question. For India’s wellness clinics, hospitals and geriatric specialists, the panel gives a structured, repeatable way to build a preventive relationship with older patients rather than a purely reactive one.
Not screening for this earlier does not guarantee a different outcome. What it more often means is that relevant information surfaces after an event rather than before one, a fracture, a medication that did not work as well as hoped, a cognitive change noticed only once it was already affecting daily life. A genetic result does not prevent any of these. What it can change is the timing of the conversation, giving families and clinicians a chance to raise it earlier, while there may still be more options to consider.
MetaQon’s Elderly Care panel is available now through MetaQon’s network of clinic partners in India. Clinics and hospitals interested in offering it to their patients can reach MetaQon through the contact details below.
Genetic results are risk-stratification information. They are not diagnostic, and they support, rather than replace, clinical judgment. MetaQon’s Elderly Care panel is intended to support clinical decision-making and does not independently diagnose any condition or guarantee health outcomes.
