According to Dr Pradhan, the human breath contains a very large number of different molecular species with ultra-low concentrations.
Tirupati: In a path-breaking research, a researcher from the SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences has found that human breath could be used to detect diseases as part of non invasive medical diagnosis.
According to the researcher, Professor Manik Pradhan, laser spectroscopy or mass spectrometry researchers can diagnose peptic ulcer disease, non-ulcerous dyspepsia and even small intestinal bacterial overgrowth without any painful endoscopy-based biopsy tests.
The researcher has also published a paper on non-invasive diagnosis and the classification of type 1 and type 2 diabetes by means of oxygen-18 isotopes of exhaled breath of carbon dioxide. He will be presenting his research paper New Frontiers in Laser Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry for Non-Invasive medical diagnosis at the 104th Indian Science Congress.
According to Dr Pradhan, the human breath contains a very large number of different molecular species with ultra-low concentrations. “Some of these molecules and their isotopic species are closely associated with a particular disease or metabolic disorders in humans. While a molecule in human breath could be indicative of more than one specific disease or metabolic disorder, conversely one particular disease or metabolic syndrome can also be marked by more than one breath molecular species,” Dr Pradhan has explained in his paper.
In another paper published in 2016, Dr Pradhan claimed that Type 2 diabetes is the most- pressing global human health concern and therefore an accurate, quick and easy diagnosis of pre-diabetes.
“Different tests like oral glucose tolerance test (glycosylated hemoglobin tests) are currently used. These methods necessitate repetitive blood samplings and therefore they are invasive,” he said.
Science magazine Nature also published a similar study, where the researcher claimed that the breath and erythrocytes carbonic anhydrase activity could be used as potential biomarkers for the precise diagnosis of diabetes.
Dr Pradhan feels that molecular hydrogen in human breath is a new strategy for selectively diagnosing peptic ulcer disease, non-ulcerous dyspepsia and Helicobacter pylori infection.
