Ten Blood Markers Predict Aging Health and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk
A simplified metabolic scoring tool links routine blood tests to healthy life expectancy and physical resilience.
By Giovanni Sapere
2 min readHuman-Edited, AI-Assisted
Researchers at Leiden University Medical Center and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging have developed a personalized metabolic score that evaluates disease risk and healthy aging. Presented at the FAPESP Week Netherlands conference, the innovation analyzes ten routine blood substances to generate a single profile of metabolic health. A one-point rise on the inverted scale corresponds to an average 14-year delay in the onset of cardiometabolic conditions.
From 200 chemical markers to 10 clinical targets
Across Europe, 60% of people over age 65 live with two or more chronic conditions, according to data presented at FAPESP Week Netherlands and reported by MedicalXpress. Healthy life expectancy varies widely by region, reaching approximately 10 years after age 65 in the Netherlands compared with four years in Romania. To track biological aging through a practical clinical innovation without relying on direct aging metrics, researchers studied blood samples from 44,000 volunteers across 12 European trials. Tracking 5,500 deaths among participants allowed the team to isolate specific warning signals among more than 200 compounds, including circulating sugars, lipids and markers of inflammation.
“In the original scoring, a high number was bad; we decided to change it so that a higher score indicates better health.”
— Joris Deelen, Leiden University Medical Center
Simplifying the algorithm for everyday clinical use
The research team refined the diagnostic calculation with Gabriela Natalle Lopes, an exchange student from the Albert Einstein Israelite Faculty in São Paulo who worked in Leiden. As detailed by MedicalXpress, the scientists calibrated the mathematical tool with Dutch population data to generate individual results. They condensed the panel to ten blood markers that physicians already measure routinely, eliminating the need for broad chemical screening. Inverting the scale transformed the model into an intuitive invention where higher numerical values reflect better health and lower vulnerability to diabetes, stroke or heart attack, paving the way for potential patent protection in clinical diagnostics.
Targeted exercise shifts scores in high-risk patients
The metabolic indicator correlates directly with physical measures of aging, including cognitive function, lung capacity and handgrip strength. Lead researcher Joris Deelen explained that genetics governs 40% of the score, while environment and lifestyle choices account for 60%. Malnutrition during childhood lowers scores in adulthood, and smoking has the most severe negative impact. Strength training and dietary adjustments did not alter overall group averages, but they produced clear improvements in individuals starting with below-average scores, cutting fasting insulin and triglycerides.
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