You might prefer not to know. But on the other hand, “forewarned is forearmed.” You might be able to do something about it if you know well in advance.
Now scientists claim they are on the way to developing a blood test that will, in fact, tell us how long we’re likely to live. And it’s not a matter of looking at conventional risk factors like blood pressure or cholesterol. . .
Predicting whether a sick patient is likely to die in the following 12 months is feasible because doctors can make use of a lot of clinical data that’s easy to obtain.
But when dealing with a healthy patient, predicting what may happen beyond 12 months – perhaps years from now – is more difficult.
Physicians would welcome a dependable tool because it would help guide them to whether treatment - such as an invasive operation - is sensible in people of advanced age.
Currently used risk factors such as high systolic (upper) blood pressure and high total cholesterol may increase the chances of dying in middle aged people but – oddly enough – are linked to reduced mortality in those aged 85 or more. For them, more reliable markers are required.
A Search For Useful Indicators
To this end a large group of European researchers set out to find the most trustworthy indicators. To do so they gathered data from 44,168 people aged between 18 and 109, of whom 5,512 died during the study follow-up period.The scientists identified a number of potential indicators and gave each one a score according to how likely they were to predict mortality.
These were then compared to standard risk factors in another group of 7,603 people of whom 1,213 died during follow up.
83 Percent Accurate
After crunching all the numbers, the academics settled on 14 biomarkers independently linked to mortality. Some proved to be a risk when they were too high, others when they were too low. They were:GlucoseAcetoacetate - created from the breakdown of fatty acidsFats - four markers were related to the number, size or ratio of certain fatsProteins - five of the markers were histidine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and valine, all essential amino acidsLactate - a product of anaerobic (absence of oxygen) cellular metabolismAlbumin - a protein made in the liver that maintains fluid balance in the bodyGlycoprotein acetyls - a sign of inflammationThe biomarkers were further validated to make sure they were consistent in both sexes and across several age groups.
The researchers found the test was able to predict with 83% accuracy whether death would occur in the next five to ten years. This is a marked improvement over conventional risk factors.
Not Ready Yet
Although most of the biomarkers are already linked to mortality, this is the first study showing their independent effect when combined into one model.The researchers concluded that "this affordable, well-standardized...measurement may be used to generate a standard for risk assessment of mortality in the clinic."
Commenting on the findings, Dr. Amanda Heslegrave from University College London said, "Biomarkers give us important insight into what's happening in health and disease.
"The large numbers in the study are good and also the fact that they have a large number for outcome – in this case mortality - makes the data more viable.
"However, it is limited by the fact that being only European data it may not apply to other ethnic groups without further studies.
"Whilst this study shows this type of profiling can be useful, they do point out importantly it would need further work to develop a score at the individual level that would be useful in real-life situations.
"So, it's an exciting step, but it's not ready yet."
What You Can Do, Today
There’s a test that’s already on the market that will measure some of the biomarkers listed above, as well as others. It’s called the Longevity Profile®© by American Metabolic Laboratories.It’s a blood panel that’s composed of over 60 tests, including a cancer profile, various hormone profiles and an organ enzyme profile. In addition, the test evaluates adrenal stress, cardiac and stroke risk markers, lipid profile, sugar, electrolytes, minerals as well as white cells, red cells and platelets.
The late Dr. Emil K. Schandl, M.D., oncobiologist and clinical and nutritional biochemist, developed the Longevity Profile®© in the 1980s. He believed that if you can identify warning signs of numerous illnesses years before you start to show symptoms, then you can choose lifestyle changes or interventions to help you keep your good health.
You can learn more about The Longevity Profile®© as well as order a testing kit online at www.americanmetaboliclaboratories.net
