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A new blood test could reveal your life expectancy

'How long will I live?' You might soon be able to answer that question.
Credit: Rafe Swan
Female scientist about to view a human sample under a microscope

When will you die? You might be able to answer that question due to a new study at Yale University that has people shocked. The new study would be able to quantify your cells' age, as opposed to your 'chronological age,' thus being able to show you what your expected life span could be. The good news of all this? Scientists say doctors could perform the test on patients, and at the same time identify ways to extend their lifespan.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Morgan Levine from Yale, says that the procedure could be used to identify people who are ageing faster than normal, meaning they are at greater risk than expected of disease and an early death. To create the test, the scientists looked at 42 different clinical measures that most strongly predicted life expectancy (like cell counts and blood glucose) and used information from 10,000 people from 1988 to 1994.Then, they validated 11,000 people who had taken part in the second study, which ran from 1999 to 2010. The results showed that if a person’s biological age was much higher than their real age, their risk of dying younger shot up.

In a separate study, the researchers looked at what might drive accelerated ageing. The most important factors appeared to be poor education, chronic stress, and lifestyle issues, such as smoking, doing too little exercise and obesity.

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