It cannot yet tell exactly which disease will prove fatal. But researchers say the new technology could save thousands of lives a year by forecasting those most at risk of serious ill health.
The discovery could then allow people to take life-saving steps to protect their future health.
It also raises the prospect of a test being carried out to help doctors stave off the ravages of disease in old age.
The research was carried out by the Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland.
The researchers identified four “biomarkers of death” that help to identify people at high risk from any disease.
Blood samples from more than 17,000 generally healthy people were screened for 100 different biomolecules – and their health was followed for five years.
In a study, published in PLOS Medicine, they describe how they found four such biomarkers – albumin, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, citrate and a specific size of low-density lipoprotein particles.
Some experts believe such a test could be just the wake-up call many people need in an age of soaring rates of killer conditions
Of these, albumin was the only one previously linked with mortality. All are normally present in blood but the amount was shown to be important.
The biomarkers helped to detect individuals at much higher risk of dying during the five-year follow-up. The measures were independent of well-known risk factors like obesity and high blood pressure.
Dr Johannes Kettunen, of the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Finland, said: “What is especially interesting is that these biomarkers reflect the risk for dying from very different types of disease such as heart disease or cancer. They seem to be signs of a general frailty in the body.
“We believe that in the future these measures can be used to identify people who appear healthy but in fact have serious underlying illnesses and guide them to proper treatment.”
There are fears that such a “crystal ball” test is unethical, turning people’s lives upside down once they are told they will be dead within a few years.
But some experts believe such a test could be just the wake-up call many people need in an age of soaring rates of killer conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s.