Blood test should determine life expectancy

Can the biological age and disease risk be predicted from telomeres?

20/05/2011

Can life expectancy be predicted? The Spanish company „Life Length“ has created a highly controversial offer for unrest in the medical community. Interested parties can send their blood and receive a telomere analysis, which allows conclusions about the risk of certain diseases (such as cancer and heart disease) and life expectancy.

Predict disease risks and life expectancy
For 500 euros the company offers „Life Lenght“ a prediction of disease risks and life expectancy. However, pointing „Life Lenght“ even pointed out that the investigated telomeres serve only as a biomarker, a clear statement is not possible. This is also the starting point of the fierce criticism that triggered the new business model in the medical community. Such a blood test with Telomer analysis was not meaningful enough to sell the results to the patients as forecasts. In general, physicians are usually very cautious about life expectancy claims because they do not want to confuse their patients and it is known that the prognosis is often wrong.

Telomere analysis to determine life expectancy
The company uses the life expectancy calculation „Life Lenght“ the analysis of telomeres. Based on the finding that telomere shortening is an indicator of increased disease risk and a higher biological age, the company offers a telomere analysis for € 500. As end-points of the chromosomes, the telomeres shorten each cell division and although they can be extended by the enzyme telomerase again, the length of the telomeres decreases with increasing biological age. The molecular biologist Dr. Maria Blasco of the National Cancer Research Center in Madrid, who was awarded the Körber Foundation's Basic Telomere Prize in 2008, is co-founder of the company „Life Length“. Although the medical benefit is highly controversial, the company is selling a blood test for 500 euros to analyze the nature of the telomeres to determine the biological age and the risk of certain diseases. Since September 2010 offers „Life Length“ Telomer analysis as a service. Since then, criticism of this commercial use of the telomere analysis has not departed. Although the telomeres allow some conclusions about the condition of the body, but the significance is in the opinion of critical physicians too low to sell the results as a service. The whole offer seems a bit like divination at this point, because safe forecasts are not possible through the telomere analysis. Therefore, Professor Thomas von Ziglinicki from Newcastle University (United Kingdom) also emphasized that „image“: „The public sale of such tests is premature, I would not do it“, because the result unsettles the patients and is not particularly helpful medically.

Send blood sample for determination of biological age
Undeterred by any criticism, sets „Life Length“ His business model continues and the success seems to give the company right. Apparently, people are also interested in inaccurate statements on their possible life expectancy and disease risk. Those who are interested receive a questionnaire and a contract by email, which they have to fill out and then go to their family doctor to take their blood. The blood sample will be returned together with the questionnaire and the contract „Life Length“ cleverly. The company then determines the proportion of short telomeres as an indicator of the biological age and also provides a comparison with the results of other test persons. In addition, the receive „Life Length“-Customers advice for a healthy lifestyle that can allegedly positively affect the telomeres. Criticism of her business model, because of possible inaccuracy, leaves Dr. Marie Blasco does not apply. Because „If we know if our telomeres are of normal length - according to our actual age - then we also know if our body is in good health and before any disease even occurs“, emphasized the co-founder of „Life Lenght“. A poor test result could also help the patient as „wake-up call“ serve as if „The doctor determines that the patient has high cholesterol or high blood pressure“, added „Life Lenght“-CEO, Stephen Matlin.

Business model of life expectancy finds imitators
According to media reports, the success of the new business model with the calculation of the biological age has also led a second expert in the field of telomer research to offer this service in the USA with his own company. Together with the pioneer of telomere research Calvin B. Harley, the Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California San Francisco has the company „Telom Health“ founded in Menio Park, California, to commercially offer telomeres to the public at the end of the year. Elizabeth Blackburn had received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discoveries on the function of the enzyme telomerase. However, Carol Greider of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, which was then awarded the Nobel Prize with Blackburn, was already heavily criticizing the new business model. She criticized the low prognostic value, which also had no consequences for the patients and served only the economic benefit of the laboratory operators.

Massive criticism of the validity of telomer analysis
Hans-Joachim Lipps from the Institute of Cell Biology at the University of Witten / Herdecke also criticized „Stern.de“ the new business model with telomer analysis. „While there is some correlation between the age and length of telomeres (...), the future of a human being or susceptibility to disease can not be deduced from this“, explained the expert. The aging processes are, according to Lipps, too complex to fix them solely on the indicator of telomeres. The examination tells the patients „at the most, that they are a bit older, but you can see that by the wrinkles or the gray hair“, stressed the expert. But the warnings will likely not stop many customers from determining their biological age using telomere analysis. Because also card reading, horoscopes and fortune telling enjoy despite dubious meaningfulness of continuing popularity. (Fp)

Picture: Rainer Sturm