A blood test that measures a marker of immune-system activity may help doctors identify people who are at risk of dying at an early age, a new study suggests. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic measured levels of the immune-system molecules known as free light chains in 15,859 Minnesotans age 50 and up, and found that people whose levels were in the top 10% were four times more likely than the other study participants to die over the next 13 years.

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