Pinprick blood test could detect disease 10 years before symptoms appear, study finds

Predictive tests will shift healthcare towards prevention rather then treatment. 

The world’s largest study into key substances in the bloodstream has paved the way for a swathe of pinprick tests that can detect early signs of disease more than a decade before symptoms appear, researchers say.

Work on the tests follows the completion of a project by UK Biobank to measure the levels of nearly 250 different proteins, sugars, fats and other compounds in blood collected from half a million volunteers.