It may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but we
may not be too far away from having a complete health exam using only a
Breathalyzer-type tool. The idea of using breath tests as a medical
diagnosis dates back to Hippocrates. Around 400 B.C., he wrote a paper
on breath aroma and disease. For many years, doctors have noticed how
particular breath odors can be associated with a disease. Today, doctors
are even taking the idea a step further by actually diagnosing
illnesses through your unique "breath print."
Tools called mass spectrometers can detect the tiny chemical compounds in your breath, according to The Wall Street Journal. Scientists
are beginning to decipher what these combinations mean and, in turn,
are getting a better understanding of what’s going on inside our bodies.
“Anything you can have a blood test for, there is potentially a breath
test for, as long as there is a volatile component,” said Raed A. Dweik,
director of the pulmonary vascular program at the Cleveland Clinic’s
Lerner Research Institute, to The Wall Street Journal. Here are just a few of the many illnesses that may be revealed through your breath:
1. Lung Cancer
Scientists
have already known that some animals are able to sniff out certain
diseases. Working off of this idea, researchers have been trying to
develop an “electronic nose" technology. This would work by detaching
different profiles of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath
samples, according to the press release from 2013. Although researchers are not able to clearly identify which VOCs are linked to different diseases, the study suggests
that it is possible for an electronic nose to differentiate lung cancer
from different lung conditions and healthy people. Out of a group of
128 nonsmokers and 114 smokers, the technology only misdiagnosed 10
individuals. “We have shown that it is possible to use breath tests to
correctly identify lung cancer with a high sensitivity rate. The results
of our study take us one step further to understand this important new
technology,” lead author Maris Bukovskis explained in the press release.
2. Heart Failure
One
team of scientists was able to detect heart failure through an analysis
of patients’ breath. The test was originally used to detect kidney
failure using a breath test. The heart patients were merely used as a
control. It did not take long for the researchers to realize that the
heart patients also had their own unique “breath prints.” Their 2012 study could
revolutionize the way that doctors are able to detect heart disease by
providing a non-invasive alternative test for diagnosis.
3. Obesity
Another study,
conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,
found that one’s breath could show how susceptible a person is to
develop obesity. Researchers analyzed the breath of 792 participants and
found that those with high concentrations of the gases methane and
hydrogen had higher BMIs and higher percentages of fat than those whose
breath had the normal mix of gases or a high concentration of either
methane or hydrogen alone.
4. Diabetes
A fruity breath odor, or one similar to nail polish, can indicate a serious problem in diabetic patients called ketoacidosis.
This is a life-threatening problem that occurs when the body cannot use
sugar as a fuel source because there is no insulin or not enough
insulting. Fat is used for fuel instead. When fat breaks down, waste
products called ketones build up in the body.
Overweight People Breathe In More Contaminants
5. Kidney Failure
Breath
that has an ammonia-like odor can sometimes occur in people who suffer
from chronic kidney failure. This smell is also described as urine-like
or fishy. The kidneys remove
wastes from the blood. When the kidneys fail, also known as end-stage
renal disease, they are no longer able to remove toxins from the blood.
Waste builds up throughout the body, and one of the ways they are
released is through the respiratory system in the form of bad breath.
