Phenotypic age
The new test will accurately determine the biological age and life expectancy of a person
Yulia Vorobyova, Vesti
Many people dream of finding out how long their life will be. Some are even sure that they could change and live differently if they knew how much they are allotted. And now scientists will be able to answer the sensitive questions of such patients.
A team from Yale University (USA) has developed a test that will determine the biological age of a person with high accuracy and will help to find out how much longer the clock will "tick".
A preprint of a scientific article based on the results of this work is available on the bioRxiv website (Liu et al., Phenotypic Age: a novel signature of mortality and morbidity risk).
The researchers explain that the "life expectancy calculator" works on the basis of nine biomarkers that are contained in human blood. In other words, the patient will only need to pass a routine analysis.
Similar tests for determining life expectancy have been created before, but the new one is highly accurate, since experts have selected the optimal combination of biological markers for the first time. If we analyze them individually or in smaller groups, the effectiveness of the method decreases.
To create the test, scientists examined 42 different clinical indicators (for example, the level of white blood cells, glucose, albumin, and so on). The information was provided by two large databases created as part of the Nationwide Health and Nutrition Surveys in the United States (NHANES). In the course of the work, specialists analyzed data from people of different ages, as well as already deceased patients.
At the first stage (from 1988 to 1994), the team used information about 10 thousand people and identified a number of clinical measures that help to make the most accurate prediction of human life expectancy. Next, the scientists developed a combined test based on nine biomarkers, and tested it with the participation of 11 thousand more people at the second stage of work (from 1999 to 2010).
The lead author of the work, Morgan Levine, who specializes in the study of various pathologies, notes that the new test allows us to assess the individual rate of aging of a person and determine what the risk of early death is for him.
"We have shown that even among people who do not have diseases, we can still find differences in life expectancy. He [the test] catches something preclinical before any diseases appear," explains Levin.
For example, if the actual age of a person is 65 years old, but physiologically his condition pulls at all 70, then the risk of his death will be like that of a 70-year-old person, the scientist explains.
Moreover, a unique test will show doctors which factors in each particular case can affect the rate of aging. Based on these data, it will be possible to make preventive recommendations for patients and monitor specific health indicators, for example, to monitor glucose or cholesterol levels more carefully.
In the course of the work, a curious fact also became clear: the biological age of women in most cases is less than "according to the passport", but in men, on the contrary, biological aging proceeds a little faster.
It also turned out that among people aged 50 to 64 years, the risk of death due to "accelerated aging" is much higher than among people aged 65 to 84 years.
The general indicators are as follows: if biological aging overtakes "age", then with each subsequent year the risk of death increases by 14% at the age of 20-39 years, by 11% at the age of 40-64 years and by 8% at the age of 65-84 years. The risk of developing various diseases in such people, respectively, is increased.
Levin and her colleagues also note that the most dangerous risk factors for early death were chronic stress, the presence of bad habits, lack of physical activity and obesity, as well as some social factors, for example, a low level of education.
The team will continue to study how these and other factors affect the health and aging rates of people of different age groups.
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