New Scientific Blood Analysis Helps in Predicting Risk of Death

A newly discovered scientific blood analysis helps in predicting risk of death.

In a latest finding, researchers at the University of Eastern Finland claim that a novel blood analysis helps demonstrating the general state of a person's metabolism. The concentration of biomarkers in the blood further helps in predicting the short term mortality of a person.

To prove the hypothesis, a study was done on 17,000 Finnish and Estonian people. Their blood samples were analyzed.

Researchers predicted the mortality risk based on four biomarkers in the blood - the level of two proteins (albumin and alpha-1 acidic glycoprotein), lipid metabolism variables and citric acid concentration. These biomarkers are usually present in the blood, but the quantity is the deciding factor.

This new finding offers hope that in future it would be possible for health experts to trace increased risk of death at an early stage. They can conduct follow up observations and put the person through effective treatment.

However, researchers, asserted on the need for further studies to formulate clinical applications.

These biomarkers are not related to certain known mortality risk factors that include age, use of alcohol, smoking, obesity, cholesterol and blood pressure. The biomarkers were related with mortality in healthy people with no history of cancer, diabetes or any other vascular disease.

Developed by Computational Medicine Research Group in association with the University of Oulu and the University of Eastern Finland, this new blood analysis is based on the method of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and helps in identifying more than 200 biomarkers in one single blood sample.

In recent years, this new blood analysis technique was incorporated for research of metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The details of this finding were documented in the journal PLOS One.