Death test

A simple blood test is enough to predict a person's ability to die from illness in the next 5 years, as well as to identify the health status of the subject.

Finnish and Estonian scientists claim to have found a way to diagnose the future of health within five years, thereby discovering the survivability of the subject. Based on a blood test called a 'death test ', doctors can determine the presence of four biomarkers that indicate the risk of dying from illness arising in the near future. A biomarker is a molecule, gene or certain biological trait that can be used to detect the physical condition of the body.

Through studies, experts took blood samples from more than 17,000 healthy people, and conducted tests to identify more than 100 different biomolecules. Next, the health of the participants was closely monitored for 5 years. Results showed that 684 of these people were killed by disease, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Scientists discovered all those who died have similar levels of four biomarkers , including albumin; alpha-1-acid glycoprotein; Citrate and an extremely low amount of lipoprotein molecules . Of the five people with the highest biomarkers, one died in the first year of the study.

Blood test can predict the overall health status for 5 years - (Photo: quoteku)

Dr Johannes Kettunen of the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine said it was particularly impressive that these biomarkers reflect the risk of death of different diseases, from cancer to heart.'They seem to be a sign that the body is weak' , according to expert Kettunen. Now scientists are studying how to find the link between these biomarkers. ' We think in the future we will find a way to detect people who look healthy but in reality hide hidden pathogens' , Independent newspaper quoted Finnish experts. The goal is to guide the most appropriate treatment for patients to have treatment opportunities. Experts predict that more experiments need to be conducted before applying a new diagnostic method in practice.

The study is a collaboration between Estonia and Finland expert groups. First, Estonian experts found a link between the group of 4 biomarkers and the lifetime of monitoring the health status of 9,842 people. They then asked their Finnish colleagues to repeat the experiment for 7,503 people before deciding to publish their report on PLOS Medicine. The Telegragh quoted Professor Markus Perola of the Institute of Health and Welfare in Finland, saying that when conducting the study they did not expect to get the same results as the Estonian group, but in fact it was different.'That's a great result. At first we could not believe it. Surprisingly, these biomarkers can predict the risk of death from human illness , ' said Professor Perola.