Lifetime through blood test predictable?

British researchers discover individual chemical „fingerprint“ in blood

07/11/2013

Is it possible to use a blood sample to predict the expected age of a person as well as possible illnesses in old age? According to British scientists, this would be possible in the future, because with the help of an individual chemical „fingerprint“ Already today a person's age can be determined almost exactly in the blood.

Blood samples from 6055 subjects
Like the British „Daily Mail“ writes, British researchers have one „discovered a chemical 'fingerprint' in the blood that could provide clues as to what diseases could occur later in life and how fast the aging process would progress.“ For the investigation, the scientists of the „King's College London“ Blood samples were taken from 6055 subjects and identified 22 metabolites in the blood (metabolites), „could be useful indicators of what age we will reach“, like that „Daily Mail“ in their online edition.

Age forecasts quite realistic
This result shows, according to Dr. Ana Valdes, co-author of the study, said that age forecasts are not unrealistic: „Because these 22 metabolites are detectable in the blood, we can now pretty much determine a person's age from a blood sample. In the future, we may also be able to predict how fast a person ages.“ According to the scientists, the metabolite is of particular relevance „C-glyTrp“ because it affects lung function, bone density, blood pressure and cholesterol and is determined inter alia by the birth weight - so had subjects with a lower birth weight more „C-glyTrp“ as persons with a higher weight, which, according to study leader Prof. Tim Spector, would confirm a long-known important connection: „It has long been known in the scientific community that a person's weight at the time of birth is an important determinant of middle and old age health, and that people of low birth weight are more susceptible to age-related diseases“, said the scientist „Daily Mail“.

Results helpful for new therapies for age-related diseases
In a next step, the researchers now want to find out which processes lead to a lower birth weight and how the C-glyTrp level in the blood could possibly be modified later - because this could help new therapeutic approaches in the field of age-related diseases such as bone and heart disease develop: „Understanding how the molecular pathways are involved in the aging process could ultimately pave the way for the future treatment of age-related diseases“, so Dr. Ana Valdes. (No)