A new blood test can predict how long one can live, based on how fast they are ageing. This blood test costs $700, and accurately measures the length of a person’s telomeres that are linked to lifespan. Telomeres are parts of DNA that protect the ends of chromosomes, protecting them from wear and tear and loss of cell functions that are related to ageing. If a person has shorter telomeres, it means the person is aging faster. Read more about how to read complete blood count
This blood test that determines the life –span of a person is the brain child of a Spanish firm known as ‘Life Length’. Maria Blasco, who is the chief of telomeres research at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Madrid, says, ”Knowing whether our telomeres are a normal length or not for a given chronological age will give us an indication of our health status and of our physiological ‘age’ even before diseases appear.”
Talks are on to manufacture the test throughout countries like US, UK and the rest of Europe. There is a strong demand from people who want to know when they will die, potentially speaking. Health experts told My Healthy Feeling that this move can actually help people develop health habits, improve their diet, start exercising and reduce stress because of the fear of losing life. Maria Blasco added, ‘What is new about this test is that it is very precise. ‘We can detect very small differences in telomere length and it is a very simple and fast technique where many samples can be analyzed at the same time.’ The blood test will be available commercially in the latter half of 2011.
