The Groningen-developed AGE-reader have proven to be an accurate tool to predict the likelihood of even otherwise healthy-looking patients having a heart attack.
Translation by Traci White
Dagblad van het Noorden reports that the technique analyses autofluorescence, natural light emission by biological structures, on a patient’s skin to determine their risk of type two diabetes, cardiovascular issues and general mortality risk. The procedure takes less than a minute to be completes
Research conducted at UMCG into the data of 73,000 participants in the northern generational health study LifeLines revealed that the device was able to accurately predict risk of heart attack. LifeLinesis a biobank and ageing research project focused on the three northern provinces and is following the health outcomes of multiple generations over the course of several decades.
Of the 73,000 LifeLines participants who have been treated with the AGE-reader, which stands for Advanced Glycation End-product, 1.4 percent developed diabetes, 1.7 percent developed heart problems and 1.3 percent had passed away within the following four years. When compared with the outcomes of the AGE-reader tests, researchers found that the tests were an accurate predictor.
The AGE-reader was developed by professor Andries Smit and internist Reinder Graaff at UMCG in 1996, both of whom are now shareholders in medical company Diagnoptics which sells the device.
Photo source: Wikipedia
