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If you could know the future, the answer to how long you’ll live would probably rank high on the list of questions.
While fortune telling isn’t usually very accurate, your body offers some clues about your overall lifespan.
A new study, published in the journal GeroScience, found that your blood markers could hold the answers about your longevity.
Looking at over 44,500 Swedes, the major research measured and followed up different molecules in the blood of people born between 1893 and 1920.
The research team, including scientists from Karolinska Institutet, focused specifically on people who were between 64 and 99 years old when their bloods were first tested, and followed them up as they grew closer to 100 years of age.
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Around 1,200 of the study participants, or about 2.7 percent, reached the title of centenarians.
The research team compared their data with those of their peers who were younger than them.
The findings revealed 12 blood-based molecules associated with metabolism, inflammation, liver and kidney function, that were linked to ageing or mortality.
Total cholesterol and blood sugar were used as markers of metabolism, uric acid indicated inflammation levels, enzymes were used for liver health and creatinine as a measure of kidney health.
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The scientists also considered albumin and iron levels in the blood.
Apart from a liver enzyme and albumin, the other molecules were found to be linked to reaching 100 years of age.
Centenarians tended to have lower levels of blood sugar, creatinine and uric acid from their sixties onwards. Very few of the centenarians had a glucose level above 6.5 earlier in life, or a creatinine level above 125.
Furthermore, those with increased levels of total cholesterol and iron had a greater likelihood of longevity as well.
The researchers explained that the findings suggest a “potential link” between metabolism, nutrition and longevity.
They penned: “While chance likely plays a role for reaching age 100, the differences in biomarker values more than one decade prior to death suggest that genetic and/or lifestyle factors, reflected in these biomarker levels may also play a role for exceptional longevity.”
The study’s drawback is that it doesn’t highlight any lifestyle factors or genes responsible for these blood molecule levels.
However, the research team added that it’s “reasonable” to think that factors such as nutrition and alcohol intake play a role. “Keeping track of your kidney and liver values, as well as glucose and uric acid as you get older, is probably not a bad idea,” they added.
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