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2w ago

Stanford Blood Test Tracks Organ Aging to Predict Alzheimer’s and Mortality

AI-driven proteomics in 45,000 UK Biobank samples highlights extreme brain aging as the key marker for mortality risk in addition to Alzheimer’s disease

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New research from Stanford scientists found that an “extremely aged” brain was associated not only with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, but a 182% increased risk of dying in the next 15 years.
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Overview

  • The blood test quantifies biological ages of 11 organ systems by measuring about 3,000 protein biomarkers and applying machine learning to samples from 45,000 UK Biobank participants.
  • Organs appearing older than their chronological age are linked to higher disease risk in the corresponding system, with aged brains tied to a threefold increase in Alzheimer’s risk compared to average brain age.
  • Participants with extremely aged brains faced a 182% higher risk of dying within 15 years while those with exceptionally youthful brains had a 40% lower mortality risk.
  • Stanford researchers say the test costs approximately $1,000 for research use and aim to bring a commercial version to market within two to three years through university–startup partnerships.
  • Plans are underway for double-blind trials to evaluate whether lifestyle changes such as exercise and smoking cessation can directly reverse organ-specific biological aging.