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The King's College London researchers have uncovered 22 metabolites that are created during molecular changes before birth and in infancy which they believe can be used to predict how a person will age.

It could pave the way for a blood test for babies to determine their chance of age-related diseases, so they can be given medical assistance earlier.

One of the metabolites that the scientists found nu skin product, C-glyTrp, was associated with bone mineral density and lung function and is also linked with birth weight.

"Scientists have known for a long time that a person's weight at the time of birth is an important determinant of health in middle and old age, and that people with low birth weight are more susceptible to age-related diseases," Professor Tim Spector from King's College said in a statement.

"So far the molecular mechanisms that link low birth weight to health or disease in old age had remained elusive, but this discovery has revealed one of the molecular pathways involved nuskin."

The scientists made the discovery by studying the metabolites in blood samples from 6000 twins.

They used genetic tests to show that the C-glyTrp metabolite could be modified by a person's environment or lifestyle, which could influence their metabolism and increase the risk of age-related diseases.

"This unique metabolite, which is related to age and age related diseases, was different in genetically identical twins that had very different weight at birth," nuskin group lead researcher Ana Valdes said in a statement.

"This shows us that birth weight affects a molecular mechanism that alters this metabolite. This may help us understand how lower nutrition in the womb alters molecular pathways that result in faster aging and a higher risk of age-related diseases fifty years later."

She said the discovery of these molecular pathways could pave the way for future therapies to treat age-related conditions.

"As these 22 metabolites linked to aging are detectable in the blood nu skin hk, we can now predict actual age from a blood sample pretty accurately and in the future this can be refined to potentially identify future rapid biological aging in individuals," Valdes said.