Links Between Biomarkers and Mortality

A biomarker is an objectively measured indicator of a physiological state. Biomarkers include indicators of genotype, normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, and pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention (Biomarkers Definitions Working Group 2001; National Heart Lung and Blood Institute 2007). Biomarkers can serve as objective indicators of health status within a sample, indicators of health change over time, and, with comparable measurement, indicators of differences across populations. They signal disease status, early physiological dysregulation preceding disease, or change in organ reserve or functioning. And they can clarify how the social, psychological, and behavioral factors traditionally examined in social science research get under the skin to influence biology and subsequent health outcomes (Crimmins and Seeman 2001, 2004; Crimmins et al. 2008a; Seeman and Crimmins 2001).