Researchers have found that levels of a certain antibody fall when you’re closer to heading six feet under, which is equally cool and terrifying. God damn you science! According to the Daily Mail, it all started in 1995 when scientists took samples from 639 adults and tracked them down over 19 years later. Coed reports:
The research was published in the journal PLOS One, but Dr. Anna Phillips – from the University of Birmingham – explains that there are a number of factors that can lead to the production of antibodies and how their levels are maintained. AKA if your levels of IgA are off, it doesn’t automatically mean you should call in a priest to be read your last rites.
“There are some that we have no control over, such as age, heritability or illness, but our general state of health can also affect their levels; stress, diet, exercise, alcohol and smoking can all influence those levels,” explains Phillips. Quite how saliva samples could be used in check-ups remains to be seen, as we need to better understand what secretion rate would be considered cause for concern – what we call the protective level. We could certainly say that, if found to be extremely low, it would be a useful early indicator of risk.”
Questionnaires have also been developed to determine a person’s longevity, but based on what I did that week (how many times was I blackout drunk and gorging on burgers?), the result is always changing.
