Saliva is truly amazing. The two pints you produce each day help in the digestive process, clean and rinse the mouth, and keep the tongue wet so you can taste food. Now, saliva is helping the medical community identify disease risk.
Here are five reasons saliva has become a popular diagnostic tool:
Dry mouth
Dry mouth is a common side effect of many drugs. More than 650 drugs cause dry mouth, resulting in dental decay and/or gum and mouth diseases. To help your mouth stay clean and protect against infections, dentists can monitor the amount of saliva you produce if you are taking medication and make recommendations to prevent dry mouth.
Without a healthy flow of saliva, bacteria can increase 10 times the normal level and cause cavities, painful sores, and make it difficult to swallow food. Make sure your dentist knows your medical history.
HIV and Hepatitis
Saliva now serves as a reliable diagnostic tool for identifying HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when a small amount of saliva is tested, it can produce highly accurate results. For instance, the OraQuick™ HIV test, reportedly has a 99.8 percent accuracy rate, compared to 99.9 for a blood test.
In addition to not needing to have blood drawn with a needle, there are other advantages to having saliva tested, including the speed that results can be known. In as little as 20 minutes, a simple swab from the inside of the mouth can help you learn if antibodies for this disease are present. Also, for the lab technicians, testing saliva is a lot safer than testing blood.
A similar saliva test for hepatitis C is being developed.
DNA
Saliva contains the same amount of DNA found in your blood, making saliva testing another accurate way to gather genetic information. Saliva testing is also more convenient. And for testing children, it’s easier than drawing blood samples. Extracting the DNA in saliva can identify inherited genes that increase a child's risk for certain diseases.
Ovulation
Forget messy urine tests, the discomfort of blood work, or trying to count the days until ovulation. Women are turning to saliva for their effective biological time-keeping. Saliva can be used to monitor hormone levels that indicate fertility (and menopause). Peaks in estrogen levels increase salts in saliva during fertility, resulting in a "leaf-like" pattern that can be identified when viewed under a microscope. Saliva testing for fertility is 98 percent as accurate as urine testing, which might help more women pinpoint their prime ovulation time.
Chemical Poisoning
Many people, especially children, can be harmed by exposure to high levels of lead and pesticides. But thanks to technology, and a little saliva, these poisons can be detected in the body without the use of a blood test. Saliva testing allows for efficient onsite testing and faster treatment for people who believe they have been exposed. |
