Diagnosing Breath Cancer and detecting Infections through the Puff

For years, Helicobacter pylori infection has been detected in the stomach using a breath test. Since this germ can cause serious illnesses, the test is a valuable contribution to prevention. In the future, significantly more diseases can be read from the breath.

Infections in the stomach can already be detected by breath
Even if it sounds like a distant vision at first, it is already a reality in some areas that you only have to blow in a bag and doctors can see how it works. Thus, for example, the so-called C13 breath test serves to detect an infection with Helicobacter pylori in the stomach. This germ can cause both gastritis and ulcers in the stomach and duodenum. He also increases the risk of developing colon cancer. Furthermore, a few years ago, Italian researchers reported on a possible breath test for colorectal cancer diagnosis, the so-called VOC breath analysis, which can be used to detect certain volatile organic compounds that can diagnose colon cancer.

Breath test is to detect cancer. Picture: sudok1-fotolia

Breast cancer detected by breathing air
According to experts, these tests are just the beginning. As reported by the tablet magazine "Apotheken Umschau elixier" (June 15, 2015 issue), physicians now want to read tumors, infectious diseases and the condition of organs in the breath. According to an experiment of the US doctor Dr. med. Michael Phillips promising results in the diagnosis of breast cancer: According to the information, the disease was detected in 48 of 51 patients via the air. In Berlin, a company is currently developing a breath test for liver function. Although hardly any of the procedures are approved and the diagnostic technology is generally expensive and sensitive. But Michael Dolch from the Department of Anaesthesiology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich is convinced: "Little by little, new tests will become established in everyday clinical practice." (Ad)