Can a Blood Test Really Tell You When You’ll Die?
As a taxi takes me across Madrid to the laboratories of Spain’s National Cancer Research Centre, I am fretting about the future. I am one of the first people in the world to provide a blood sample for a new test, which has been variously described as a predictor of how long I will live, a waste of time or a handy indicator of how well (or badly) my body is ageing. Today I get the results.
Some newspapers, to the dismay of the scientists involved, have gleefully announced that the test – which measures the telomeres (the protective caps on the ends of my chromosomes) – can predict when I will die….
The test is based on the idea that biological ageing grinds at your telomeres. And, although time ticks by uniformly, our bodies age at different rates. Genes, environment and our own personal habits all play a part in that process. A peek at your telomeres is an indicator of how you are doing. Essentially, they tell you whether you have become biologically younger or older than other people born at around the same time.
On the one hand, I would want the test to know whether or not I need to begin taking better care of myself. 🙂
On the other hand, a study of very long-lived Jews in the New York area found they had great genes — not great lifestyle habits.
Wasn’t it the composer, Eubie Blake, who remarked at age 100… “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.”
Scary thought.
Some think that the decoding of the human genome and the identification of what all the genes are for will give us a better idea of how long people will live.
The million dollar question: if you knew your anticipated life span, would you change anything about how you were living?
I don’t think I would, but I’m not sure that would stop me from getting the test.