Medical Research: One breath away from diagnosing disease - by Rick Pilger

Breath has been described poetically as the bridge that unites your body to its thoughts. Breath can also provide a window to the body’s health.

For at least as far back as the fifth century BC, when Hippocrates recognized the sweet, fruity odour signalling diabetes, the distinctive fishy reek of advanced liver disease and the urine-like smell associated with failing kidneys, physicians have used breath odour as a tool in diagnosing diseases.

Strong evidence exists of 30 or 40 major illnesses that can be detected by breath testing. Dr. Cormier says early intervention can significantly improve health-care outcomes. “There’s a wealth of information that can inform decision making at an earlier stage of disease,” he says. “When you intervene proactively at that stage, the outcomes are much, much better, and at much lower cost to the health-care system.”

For more: One breath away from diagnosing disease - The Globe and Mail