Scientists reveal how simple finger test could determine risk of developing deadly diseases
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock
A finger prick test could help doctors identify a person's risk of developing serious diseases like cancer.
The test involves collecting a small drop of blood from your finger, which is then sent off for analysis.
Typically these tests are used to track things like blood sugar, cholesterol, vitamins and minerals, hormones, and allergies.
However, researchers have now suggested that finger prick tests should be used to track metabolic health in non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Advert
The World Health Organization said that these diseases 'tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors'. The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes.
These illnesses kill millions of people each year. In 2021 alone, 43,000,000 people across the globe died from NCDs. But, with the help of these simple tests, people at risk of developing an NCD could find out sooner and get early intervention.
This may be game-changing for health services worldwide as NCDs are expected to overtake infectious diseases for health burden by 2050, News Medical reports.
Researchers writing in Frontiers in Science have suggested that glucose ketone index (GKI), which requires a finger prick test, could play a key part in identifying NCD risk factors.
GKI tracks the ratio of blood glucose to ketones in your body, providing a clearer pictures of someone's metabolic health.
Should someone be found to be at risk of developing an NCD, they could then make lifestyle changes in a bid to prevent this from happening – for example, someone at risk of cardiovascular disease could cut back on saturated fats and sodium in their diet, or start exercising more regularly.
Discussing how GKI and finger prick tests could prove beneficial in cutting down in the number of people developing NCDs, lead author Thomas Seyfried, Professor of biology and genetics from Boston College, said (per News Medical): "Within the next few decades, NCDs could account for up to 75 percent of all disability-adjusted life-years, contributing to a substantial decline in life expectancy.
"These conditions are not the result of genetic fate but are largely shaped by lifestyle factors. This GKI-based metabolic roadmap outlines a proposed clinical pathway that could support the prevention and management of cancer and chronic disease."
While researchers like Seyfried seem optimistic about the information that can be gathered from finger prick tests, they have stressed that further clinical studies need to be carried out prove if the test can accurately predict disease risk or not.