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new study suggests that some readings from
routine blood tests could help identify people at higher risk of disease and
death related to disease. Doctors currently use the readings as markers of
immune condition and inflammation.
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on PinterestNew research singles out blood markers that could identify people
at risk of disease and premature death.
The study investigators
analyzed 12 years of data from 31,178 participants in the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANESTrusted Source).
They found that those with
low levels of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, were more likely to die
from heart
disease, cancer, and respiratory
illnesses, such as pneumonia and influenza.
The analysis showed that
the link between low lymphocytes — a condition called lymphopenia — and higher
risk of disease and death did not vary with age or other common risk factors.
However,
the predictive power of the low lymphocyte count increased when the scientists
added two other measures of blood abnormality: one relating to inflammation and
the other to the ability to maintain a supply of red blood cells.
The research is the work of
teams from the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, in Ohio, and
other institutions. They report their findings in a recent JAMA Network Open paper.
Using markers from routine blood work
"Scientists have gone
to great lengths and expense to develop novel biomarkers to identify people at
the highest risk for death and disease," says study author Jarrod E.
Dalton, Ph.D., who co-led the investigation.
"Here,"
he adds, "we have taken a more pragmatic approach — investigating the
predictive power of components of a patient's white blood cell count, which is
collected as part of routine blood work during standard health exams."
Dalton is an epidemiologist
at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute.
In their study paper, he
and colleagues remark on the increasing availability of drugs that target the
immune system to treat established disease. These treatments seek to either
reduce or boost immune activity, depending on the underlying relationship to
disease.
However, they urge that
there is also a great and unmet need for tools and methods to help prevent
immune-related diseases in the general population in the first place.
Low lymphocyte count
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Around 20–40%Trusted Source of white blood cells are
lymphocytes. A shortage of lymphocytes leaves the body susceptible to
infection.
While scientists have
recognized that a low lymphocyte count is a strong risk factor for premature death in people with a
particular heart valve condition, there has been little research on its value
as a more general predictor of survival.
In the new study, the
researchers wished to discover whether lymphocyte counts could be an effective
way to assess the risk of disease and disease-related death in a nationally
representative adult population.
They performed the analysis
with lymphocyte count on its own, then together with two other markers.
The
two additional markers were red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and
C-reactive protein (CRP).
RDW is a measure of how
well the body can produce and maintain a healthy supply of red blood cells. CRP
is a marker of inflammation.
The analysis linked low
lymphocyte count with reduced survival both on its own and in conjunction with
other blood markers, especially RDW and CRP.
'Convenient and inexpensive' screening tool
From the analysis, the
researchers conclude that around 20% of the general adult population of the
United States appear to have a high risk profile, according to these markers.
In
addition, they calculated that the chance of dying within the next 10 years for
those with the highest risk profiles was 28%, compared with only 4% for those
with the lowest risk profiles.
The team suggests that with
more research, it should soon be possible to understand the biological nature
of the relationship between these markers and disease. Such knowledge could
help identify suitable treatment targets.
In the meantime, it should
be possible to help doctors use the markers to identify those with the highest
risk of premature death as part of routine preventive care and screening.
"The complete blood count test is
convenient, inexpensive, and — as our findings suggest —may be used to help
physicians screen for and prevent disease and disease-related mortality."
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