Mark O Brien


Biomarkers can predict death in 5 years

Mark O’Brien writes about an article that appeared in February 2014 about new research that shows biomarkers can predict death in 5 years.

This research is about a series of tests that will give a solid indication that a otherwise healthy person will or will not die within five years that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald 28/2/2014.

This article referred to research published by PLOS medicine entitled Biomarker Profiling by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for the Prediction of All-Cause Mortality: An Observational Study of 17,345 Persons which entailed the study of various biomarkers and their impact on longevity.

Biomarkers are molecules found in the body, its fluids or body tissues, that signal that abnormal processes are occurring within the body such as above healthy cholesterol levels.

The blood samples of the subjects were screened for 100 biomarkers over five years, with four biomarkers showing up constantly in what were otherwise premature, unpredicted deaths.

The biomarkers that appeared to correlate the strongest with death were alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, albumin, very-low-density lipoprotein particle size and citrate.

All of these markers are predictive of cardiovascular mortality as well as cancer and other diseases. 
Issues with any of these biomarkers tended to indicate a certain frailty in the system that people did not now they had.

Of the 17345 people in the trial 684 died within the five years and all showed high end results for each of these biomarkers.This research has broad implications for how people can seek treatment or supplements in order to ward off future life-threatening sicknesses.

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