Know your health through saliva?

Is it possible to know your state of health thanks to a little saliva? The answer is apparently yes, researchers have developed a system capable of analyzing the saliva of its wearer and thus detect fatigue or other health concerns.

We are not going to spit on the technology, except when it needs saliva in order to control the state of health. Finally spit, salivate on the device would be more accurate. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego have developed and tested a mouth guard fitted with sensors able to recognize certain chemicals in saliva. The group of researchers was mainly interested in uric acid.

Another sensor already exists

When the level of uric acid in the blood becomes too high, it is responsible for health problems like gout, an inflammatory disease affecting the joints (feet, knees, hands, elbow, etc.). Too high a concentration in the urine leads to kidney stones. This sensor is the second made by scientists for the mouth guard. If the idea of ​​wearing such devices to detect possible health concerns may seem preposterous, this system already exists.

Last year, another sensor was developed for the mouth guard, targeting athletes. This could measure the level of lactic acid, a substance mainly produced by muscles, the skin and red blood cells, especially when the body is low on oxygen. A concentration high lactic acid level can for example lead to muscle fatigue. The designed mouth guard is practical as it transmits the information collected to a smartphone via Bluetooth low energy.

Saliva, as good an indicator as blood?

This system is somewhat reminiscent of FitGuard, the device designed to detect the shocks of athletes during a match. On the same principle as the sensor, the mouth guard records the intensity of an impact and via a color code and a smartphone application informs the athlete and his family in the event of a serious shock, requiring the wearer to stop, or risk putting him in danger.

At present, the device designed by researchers has not yet been tested with a human mouth. However, this solution remains attractive since it is less "intrusive" than a prick for a blood Review. In addition, recent research suggests that the concentration of many substances present in saliva would also be present in the same amount in the blood.

If for the moment the device has the ideal size to accommodate all the components, the researchers ultimately want reduce the size of the device to make it less bulky, and allow it to provide further information on the health of its carriers and why not help the doctors.

Source

[ad_2]