This archive report was first published on 21 August 2019.
Published on August 21, 2019, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of medicine. They have developed a new blood test that can predict whether a person will die within the next 10 years.
The test relies on biomarkers in the blood linked to various factors that affect a person's risk of death. These biomarkers were identified through an analysis of 44,168 participants aged 18 to 109, of whom 5,512 died during follow-up.
The researchers found that 14 biomarkers were associated with an increased risk of death. These biomarkers were linked to factors such as immunity, circulating fat, inflammation, and glucose control.
According to the study published in Nature Communications, the researchers explained that the prediction accuracy of 5- and 10-year mortality based on a model containing the identified biomarkers and sex is better than that of a model containing conventional risk factors for mortality.
However, experts not involved in the study have cautioned that further research is needed before a clinical test is available. Dr. Amanda Heslegrave, a researcher at the UK Dementia Research Institute, stated that while the study shows the potential of this type of profiling, it would need further work to develop a score at the individual level that would be useful in real-life situations.
