Doctors have a new tool.
A routine blood test, commonly used during check-ups, might be able to reveal much more about a person’s health than is currently being utilized. A new study, published on December 11 in Nature, suggests that a standard component of blood tests called the complete blood count (CBC) could help doctors identify or predict a variety of diseases, including heart conditions, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and kidney disease.
Dr. John Higgins, a pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the senior researcher of the study, explained that CBCs show considerable variation from person to person, even among those who are healthy. He noted that a more personalized approach to using CBC results could offer greater insights into a person’s health or potential for disease. A CBC measures the levels of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in the blood, all of which circulate throughout the body, offering valuable clues about an individual’s health.
By analyzing blood samples from over 25,000 patients, the researchers discovered that each person has a unique “set point” for each blood component. These set points could allow doctors to diagnose early-stage diseases in individuals who may otherwise appear healthy. For instance, a lower level of hemoglobin in the blood, which is essential for oxygen transport, has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.
Other significant findings from the CBC include links between higher white blood cell counts and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, the size of red blood cells and a greater risk of osteoporosis and arrhythmia, and the percentage of red blood cells in the blood as an indicator of kidney disease. Even an individual’s overall mortality risk could be assessed through the CBC. Researchers found that significantly high or low blood count set points in seemingly healthy individuals could indicate a heightened 10-year risk of death, potentially by more than 5%.
The study shows that the set points could identify more than 20% of healthy adults with a 2% to 5% increased risk of major diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, for which early intervention could be effective. These findings align with previous studies that linked low hemoglobin levels to heart attacks, red blood cell size to fractures, and white blood cell count to diabetes. The researchers emphasized that further investigation is needed to fully understand the mechanisms behind these associations, but their results suggest that CBCs could be as valuable as other common screening tools, such as family history and genetic testing.
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