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April 6, 2012

Strange But True!

Q. How might going “ptui” on cue help protect your good health one day?

A. Someday soon, doctors may join dentists in issuing “rinse and spit” instructions as evidence mounts that saliva not only helps clean the mouth, digest food and fight tooth decay but also carries many of the same proteins found in blood and urine, says Susan Gaidos in Science News magazine. Already, diseases such as breast cancer, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's are known to leave idiopathic signatures in saliva, with the list of key biomarkers swelling into the thousands. Today, most medical diagnoses are based on blood samples, but drawing blood requires trained clinicians and special equipment and involves frightening needles and often long waits for test results.


 
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