Impaired swallowing, a prevalent issue among frail elderly individuals, may serve as a critical nexus linking these domains: it significantly heightens the risk of aspiration, malnutrition (29), and pulmonary interleukin-6 mediated inflammatory cascades (30, 31), potentially escalating localized respiratory compromise into systemic cytokine storm syndromes. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is nutritional deficiency disease.