Personal-MetaboHealth, a clinically validated blood-based metabolomic composite score scaled to a Dutch reference population, predicts all-cause mortality and cardiometabolic disease incidence and can be improved by a 3-month combined lifestyle intervention specifically in middle-aged individuals at risk.
Key Findings
Results
Personal-MetaboHealth retained predictive accuracy for all-cause mortality compared to the original MetaboHealth score.
The Leiden Longevity Study (LLS) followed 2,404 participants for up to 22 years for mortality outcomes.
The association with all-cause mortality remained robust after adjusting for smoking quantity, alcohol consumption, and medication use.
Personal-MetaboHealth is based solely on clinically validated (CE-marked) metabolic biomarkers scaled to a Dutch reference population (BBMRI-NL).
Results
Personal-MetaboHealth showed an even stronger association with incident cardiometabolic disease than the original MetaboHealth score.
The LLS followed 2,404 participants for up to 16 years for cardiometabolic morbidity outcomes.
Each unit increase in Personal-MetaboHealth was associated with a 13.69 year later onset of the first cardiometabolic disease.
The association with cardiometabolic disease was attenuated after adjustment for smoking quantity specifically.
Personalisation involved scaling biomarkers using the Biobanking and BioMolecular Research Infrastructure Netherlands (BBMRI-NL) as a reference population.
Results
Personal-MetaboHealth can be improved by a 3-month combined lifestyle intervention in middle-aged individuals at risk.
The intervention was assessed in the Growing Old Together (GOT) study.
Improvement was specifically observed in individuals with an unhealthy Personal-MetaboHealth score at baseline, i.e., those 'at risk.'
The intervention duration was 3 months and was described as a combined lifestyle intervention.
Individuals who did not have an unhealthy score at baseline did not show the same degree of improvement.
Methods
Personal-MetaboHealth was developed by scaling metabolic biomarkers to a Dutch reference population and restricting the score to CE-marked biomarkers.
The reference population used for scaling was the Biobanking and BioMolecular Research Infrastructure Netherlands (BBMRI-NL).
Only clinically validated, CE-marked metabolic biomarkers were included, enabling potential clinical implementation.
The original MetaboHealth score predicts a wide range of age-related conditions and mortality in large European cohorts.
Personalisation and clinical validation of biomarkers were the two key modifications distinguishing Personal-MetaboHealth from MetaboHealth.
Conclusions
Personal-MetaboHealth is proposed as an actionable health check in middle age for early prevention and extension of healthy lifespan.
The score is described as potentially suitable for use in prevention strategies.
Its basis in CE-marked biomarkers supports practical clinical applicability.
The demonstrated responsiveness to lifestyle intervention supports its use as a modifiable target in at-risk individuals.
The authors frame it as offering 'a potential actionable health check in middle age for early prevention and extension of healthy lifespan.'
What This Means
This research introduces 'Personal-MetaboHealth,' an updated version of a blood test-based health score that measures overall metabolic health in middle-aged adults. Unlike the original version, this new score uses only laboratory tests that have already been clinically approved in Europe (CE-marked), and it compares each person's results to a Dutch reference population so the score is meaningful on an individual level. When tested in a large Dutch study following over 2,400 people for up to 22 years, this score successfully predicted who would die earlier and who would develop heart disease, diabetes, or other cardiometabolic conditions — with each one-unit improvement in the score linked to developing such conditions nearly 14 years later on average.
The study also found that this health score can actually be changed through lifestyle. In a separate study, middle-aged people who had an unhealthy score at the start were able to improve their Personal-MetaboHealth after just 3 months of a combined lifestyle intervention. Those who already had a healthy score at the start did not show the same improvement, suggesting the intervention is particularly beneficial for people who need it most.
This research suggests that Personal-MetaboHealth could serve as a practical, clinically usable tool to identify middle-aged people at risk of age-related diseases before those diseases develop, and to measure whether lifestyle changes are actually working at a biological level. Because the score relies only on standard, approved clinical lab tests and can respond to lifestyle changes, it has potential to be integrated into routine health checkups as an early warning and monitoring system for long-term health.
van den Berg N, Natalle Lopes G, Bogaards F, Beekman M, Amaro Junior E, Slagboom P, et al.. (2026). Personal-MetaboHealth, an actionable health check in middle age, is improved by an effective lifestyle intervention in those at risk.. BMC medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-026-05178-z