We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Blood Test to Measure Organ Ageing Could Predict Disease Risk Decades in Advance

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 28 Feb 2025
Print article
Image: Biological organ ages predict disease risk decades in advance (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)
Image: Biological organ ages predict disease risk decades in advance (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Human organs work together as a coordinated system, but they can age at varying rates. The aging of specific organs can contribute to numerous age-related diseases. As these organs function in close connection, accelerated aging in one organ can impact the functioning of others, which may explain why individuals with an organ that is aging rapidly are more likely to experience multiple age-related diseases across different organs. A new study now suggests that a blood test that measures how much each organ has aged could predict the risk of diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease decades in advance. The findings, published in The Lancet Digital Health, demonstrate how accelerated aging in certain organs can predict not only the diseases that affect that organ but also those that could affect other parts of the body.

The research team, led by scientists from University College London (London, UK), analyzed data from the British Whitehall II study, a longitudinal cohort study that has been tracking participants since 1985. The study involved analyzing blood samples collected in the late 1990s from more than 6,200 middle-aged adults to assess the biological age of nine organs: the heart, blood vessels, liver, immune system, pancreas, kidneys, lungs, intestines, and the brain, as well as the entire body. The researchers compared the participants' chronological age to the biological age of each organ, determined by age-specific markers, and found that different organs within the same person often aged at different rates.

The participants' health was monitored for 20 years through national health registries. By the end of the follow-up period, the participants, now aged 65–89, had been diagnosed with at least one of the age-related diseases studied. The follow-up data showed that accelerated aging in specific organs predicted the risk of 30 different diseases over the next two decades in individuals who were initially healthy. For instance, a rapidly aging heart predicted a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, while those with accelerated lung aging were more likely to develop respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. Interestingly, the highest risk of dementia was found in people whose immune system had aged more quickly than usual, rather than in those whose brains showed faster aging in midlife. This result supports earlier studies indicating that individuals vulnerable to severe infections are also at greater risk for dementia later in life. It also suggests that inflammatory processes may play a crucial role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

The researchers also discovered that kidney health was closely linked to other organs. Individuals with accelerated kidney aging were more likely to develop vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver diseases, while aging in nearly all organs predicted an increased risk of kidney disease. In the past, blood biomarkers (measurable health indicators) were assessed individually, making the process expensive and inefficient, particularly when analyzing multiple markers. However, in the last decade, technological advancements have allowed for the simultaneous measurement of thousands of proteins from a single blood sample. These blood protein concentrations fluctuate in response to various factors such as lifestyle, environmental influences, diseases, and medications. Consequently, new proteomic (protein-based) analyses offer valuable insights for monitoring the pace of aging. The researchers believe that their findings support a shift toward more personalized and effective disease prevention in healthcare. By using proteomic signatures to assess organ aging, the risk of age-related diseases can be detected earlier, enabling targeted preventive measures and interventions tailored to each individual’s unique risk profile.

“We found that a quick and easy blood test can identify whether a specific organ is ageing faster than expected. In years to come, blood tests like this could play a crucial role in preventing numerous diseases,” said lead author Professor Mika Kivimaki from the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences. “I believe that in the future of healthcare, the prevention of age-related diseases could begin much earlier, prioritizing those who would benefit most and tailoring interventions to individual risk profiles.”

Gold Member
Troponin T QC
Troponin T Quality Control
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Toxoplasma Gondii Immunoassay
Toxo IgM AccuBind ELISA Kit
New
TETANUS Test
TETANUS VIRCLIA IgG MONOTEST

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The ready-to-use DUB enzyme assay kits accelerate routine DUB activity assays without compromising data quality (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Sensitive and Specific DUB Enzyme Assay Kits Require Minimal Setup Without Substrate Preparation

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are two important physiological processes in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, responsible for protein degradation in cells. Deubiquitinating (DUB) enzymes contain around... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.