Spit is considered dirty and insulting, but Indian scientists and doctors have re-discovered a 2000-year-old secret about this wonderful fluid.
Spit or saliva is more than a chemical secretion in the mouth; it is a reflection of one’s health, both mental and physical, they say.
The importance of saliva in diagnosis of diseases has been set out in detail in ancient Indian medical treatises that go back 2000 years. The Sushruta Samhita has several references to saliva in diagnosing and treating certain diseases including oral cancers.
Today, doctors and researchers have rediscovered the significance of saliva as a non-invasive and painless diagnostic tool.
Indian scientists are doing research on saliva and have developed biomarkers for a number of diseases. Saliva is both predictive and diagnostic in nature. That is to say, it not only predicts well in advance whether a particular individual is pre-disposed to a particular disease, it also tells doctors what disease an individual is suffering from.
If the fast-paced research on saliva is any indication, saliva will soon emerge as the preferred diagnostic tool for diseases and disorders. Though it may not replace blood tests, saliva tests will come in handy for testing small children and the elderly.
Moreover, unlike blood tests which have to be largely carried out in a laboratory, saliva tests can be done in the privacy of one’s home or office, researchers point out.
Facts about saliva diagnostics
*Saliva test is convenient for young children and the elderly and those who don’t want to be pricked by a needle.
*Saliva analysis will reveal well in advance whether an individual is likely to develop a particular disease at a later stage in life. Biomarkers for a number of diseases are being developed.
*Saliva will inform whether a woman is pregnant. Progesterone levels in saliva are measured to confirm pregnancy.
Saliva tests can help in myriad ways
Doctors at the Hyderabad-based Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences have successfully utilised both predictive and diagnostic properties of saliva.
The tests have helped in the development of biomarkers for diabetes. Researchers elsewhere have discovered that saliva is capable of informing whether or not a woman is pregnant. Spit on a special strip and it will inform you if you are pregnant.
The NIMS-aided glycoproteomase test can be done at home. A diabetic just has to spit on the glycoproteomase strip and within no time he or she is able to know the glucose level in the blood.
Ancient medical records have equated saliva with blood. Modern doctors hundreds of years later point out that saliva is indeed a better diagnostic tool than blood.
Says Dr P.V. Rao, head of the department of diabetology, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences: “Saliva mirrors blood. In fact, the diagnostic results obtained from saliva are better than those obtained from the blood. Saliva tests are painless and non-invasive. There’s no need for painful needle pricks for blood tests. Saliva glycoproteomase tests may replace blood tests for diabetes.”
According to senior oral pathologist and microbiologist Dr Manjul Tiwari, diagnosis and prevention of diseases using human saliva is about to expand as more and more laboratories and medical practitioners use the new technology.
“Unlike blood testing, saliva analysis looks at the cellular level, and therefore, saliva is truly representative of what is clinically relevant,” he says.
Blood analysis, on the other hand, looks at compounds as they travel through the blood serum. Saliva analysis will predict, diagnose, or prevent many health problems and diseases.
“Molecules freely travel through the cells and into saliva ducts and it is these small molecules that can be assayed in saliva,” Dr Tiwari said.
