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Researchers led by Leiden University Medical Center developed a metabolic health score based on 10 blood markers, drawing on data from 44,000 European volunteers. The score was associated with cardiometabolic disease risk and measures of physical and cognitive function, but the report does not establish that it can predict an individual’s future health accurately in routine care.
Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging have refined a blood-based metabolic score that they say may help identify people at greater risk of cardiometabolic disease and age-related functional decline. The updated version uses 10 familiar blood markers and was developed from data on 44,000 European volunteers; its ability to guide routine clinical care has not been established in the material reported.
The team analyzed blood measurements from participants in 12 European studies, including more than 200 substances such as fats, sugars and inflammation markers. Over the years covered by the research, 5,500 deaths were recorded among the volunteers followed. Researchers used the data to identify substances associated with mortality risk and build a score intended to reflect a person’s broader metabolic health.
The score was later adjusted using Dutch population data, simplified from hundreds of measurements to 10 blood markers commonly assessed by doctors, and reoriented so a higher number indicates better health. Researcher Joris Deelen told News-Medical that the new version was also more effective at predicting cardiometabolic diseases, including diabetes, heart attack and stroke. The report says a one-point increase corresponded to an average 14-year delay in the onset of a first cardiometabolic disease; it does not provide enough detail to interpret that figure as a guaranteed delay for an individual.
The score also correlated with measures including cognitive function, lung capacity and handgrip strength. In lifestyle-change and strength-training programs, participants who began with below-average scores showed improvements in fasting insulin, triglycerides and body composition. Deelen said the score itself did not change significantly across the whole group, but results differed when participants were separated by their starting score.
A Blood Score for Aging Risk
A blood test that summarizes several aspects of metabolism could offer researchers and clinicians one way to identify people who may benefit from closer assessment or prevention efforts. The study’s findings connect the score not only with cardiometabolic disease, but also with physical and cognitive measures associated with healthy aging. That combination could make the tool useful for studying how health changes over time, if it is validated for clinical use.
The reported intervention findings point to a possible role in targeting support: people with lower starting scores appeared to show more favorable changes after lifestyle and exercise programs. But this does not show that the score itself improves health, or that selecting interventions using it leads to better outcomes than existing clinical assessment. Its potential value is as a risk indicator, not a diagnosis or a substitute for a clinician’s evaluation.
The researchers also estimated that the score is shaped by heredity and environment, with genetics accounting for 40% and lifestyle and environmental factors for 60% in their analysis. The report identifies smoking as the behavior with the strongest negative association and regular physical activity as beneficial. These findings underline that risk reflects more than one factor; they do not mean that a person’s score or future health is fully determined by any single behavior.
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How Researchers Built the Score
The work addresses a broad challenge in aging: the News-Medical report says studies across countries indicate that about 60% of people over 65 live with at least two chronic conditions. Deelen presented the research at FAPESP Week Netherlands, an event connecting European and Brazilian research. He also pointed to differences in healthy life expectancy across Europe, attributing them to factors including socioeconomic status, education, lifestyle and genetics.
Researchers cannot directly measure biological aging, so this project used blood chemistry as an indirect way to assess health. The original analysis drew on long-term data from volunteers across multiple European studies. A collaboration with Brazil, including work by São Paulo student Gabriela Natalle Lopes during an exchange at Leiden, contributed to updating the score for a more personalized result and potential clinical use.
The report also mentions separate research at Brazil’s Federal University of São Carlos on communication between the musculoskeletal system and the brain during aging. It provides only a brief description of that work, so it does not establish that the Brazilian research validated the score or tested it as a clinical tool.
““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, as quoted by News-Medical
Clinical Validation Still Needed
The report does not give enough information to determine how accurately the score predicts disease for an individual, how it performs across different populations, or whether its predictions add useful information beyond existing tests and risk assessments. It also does not specify the follow-up period or statistical method behind the reported 14-year association, limiting what readers can conclude from that figure.
The lifestyle findings are described as improvements in certain measures among people with lower initial scores, but the report does not provide the intervention sizes, duration, comparison groups or detailed results. It is not clear whether participants were randomly assigned, how long changes lasted, or whether the programs reduced diagnoses or deaths. The score’s relationship with mortality and health measures is an association; it does not establish that changing the score causes a longer or healthier life.
Researchers also need to establish how the score should be interpreted in different age groups and populations, and whether its 10 markers are measured consistently across health systems. The reported genetic and lifestyle percentages describe the team’s analysis and should not be treated as a precise breakdown of an individual’s health prospects.
Testing the Score in Care
The next step implied by the project is further evaluation of the simplified score in clinical settings and across populations beyond the Dutch data used to refine it. Such work would need to report prediction accuracy, compare the tool with established risk assessments, and show whether using the score changes care or patient outcomes.
Researchers would also need to clarify how clinicians should act on a low or high result and whether repeated testing can reliably track change. The source report does not announce a timetable, regulatory review or planned rollout. For now, the score remains a research development described as having potential to support identification of higher-risk individuals, rather than a confirmed standard test.
Key Questions
What is the new metabolic score?
It is a blood-based measure designed to summarize aspects of metabolism using 10 markers, including measures related to fats, sugars and inflammation. The updated scale is set so that a higher score indicates better health.
What health risks may the score indicate?
The researchers report associations with cardiometabolic diseases, including diabetes, heart attack and stroke, as well as measures such as cognitive function, lung capacity and handgrip strength. The score is not presented as a diagnosis.
Does a one-point increase mean disease will be delayed by 14 years?
No individual guarantee is established. The report says a one-point increase corresponded to an average 14-year delay in the onset of a first cardiometabolic disease, but does not provide enough methodological detail to apply that estimate to a specific person.
Can lifestyle changes improve the score?
In the reported programs, participants with below-average starting scores improved on some measures, including fasting insulin, triglycerides and body composition. The overall score did not change significantly across the full group, and the report does not establish long-term effects or show that score-guided programs improve health outcomes.
Is the score available for routine medical use?
The source describes a potential clinical tool, but does not report a rollout or establish routine use. Further evidence on accuracy, population performance and clinical benefit is needed before its role in care is clear.
Source: news-medical.net
