A new test identifies your inflammation age - which could provide early health warnings

Scientists have developed a blood test to measure inflammatory age, giving us an early warning of conditions such as heart disease and dementia. Is this the future of preventative health care? 

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WHEN asked how old we are, most of us give our chronological age. But scientists from Stanford University and the Buck Institute of Research on Ageing in the US believe it does not accurately reflect our true age. They have developed a blood test that measures our inflammatory age (iAge) and say this ‘biological clock’ is a more significant indicator of ageing than our traditional method of using calendar years.

“Our chronological age shouldn’t matter to us so much,” says Dr Nazish Sayed, assistant professor of vascular surgery at Stanford and a member of the research team that developed the blood test. “What should matter is how well we age. Our goal should be a healthier old age, one in which we prevent some of the ill health that is all too commonly associated with it.”