News Brief by Kristiina Yang
Breath
testing, while not quite ready to be used in doctors’ offices yet, presents a
new and exciting frontier in preventative and diagnostic medicine. Researchers
have found that each individual has a unique breath content consisting of
volatile and nonvolatile materials, which can be analyzed for the presence and
progression of various health problems. They hope to use individuals’ unique
breath content to develop noninvasive medical tests for diagnostic and
monitoring purposes, amongst other possibilities. Studies, for example, have
already shown that breath analysis can be used to indicate whether one has lung
cancer.
Researchers’ and
scientists’ efforts to develop breath analysis technologies are rooted in the
many benefits that this noninvasive form of medical testing may present. Breath
analysis, researchers hope, will enhance the efficiency of the medical field by
taking a small sample with no pain to the patient, which can be processed
quicker than blood tests or biopsies for a wide variety of inflictions, and at
a potentially lesser cost. What remains to be done is for scientists to
identify and catalogue thousands of chemicals in the breath, and to understand
how their presence and changes indicate disease. While trials and studies still
need to be undertaken to standardize and validate the process, the field of
breath testing is expected to see great development and progress in the coming
years.
Reference:
Beck,
Melinda. "What Your Breath Reveals About Your Health." WSJ.com.
The Wall Street Journal, 8 Oct. 2012. Web.
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