Quantum


HEALTH


Issue 8 December 2010


Goodbye Blood Tests?


Not many people like having their blood drawn, but it is the standard way of diagnosing many diseases and getting an accurate picture of what’s going in the body. However, researchers at the Center for Oral Biology, at the University of Rochester Medical Center, may soon make getting stuck with a needle a thing of the past. They have discovered that saliva contains many of the same proteins as the blood, and studying these proteins provides much of the same information as a blood test.


“Our work, and the work of our partners, has shown that salivary proteins may represent new tools for tracking disease throughout the body, tools that are potentially easier to monitor in saliva than in blood,” said James Melvin, author of the study and director of the Center for Oral Biology.


He went on to say that “researchers have already shown that saliva proteins can be used to detect oral cancer and HIV infection. We think this list will soon expand to include leading causes of death like cancer and heart disease, which, if caught early, are much more likely to be successfully treated.” The technique already has revealed that salvia contains the same proteins linked to Parkinson’s, Hodgkin’s and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as prostate and breast cancer, and diabetes.


One day, rather than drawing blood from a vein in your arm, your doctor may simply have you spit in a cup. Now that’s progress!


12 Quantum Health


www.quantumhealthmagazine.com


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