Your Breath: The New Health Fingerprint

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Your Breath: The New Health Fingerprint

– Reported, April 04, 2013

 

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Can people’s breath tell others important information about them? According to a new study, yes it can. Swiss researchers discovered that not only can people’s exhaled breath be made into a “breathprint,” but these prints are specific to each individual and could be used as a diagnostic tool.

In the study, the exhaled breath of eleven participants was collected at various times of the day for eleven days. Researchers then analyzed the chemicals found in each participant’s breath to create a “breathprint.”

The eleven individuals all had different “breathprints” which were unique for each individual, although why this occurs is not completely understood. The study researchers believe factors such as diet, health conditions, or exposure to environmental chemicals could be responsible for the varying “breathprints.”

Since the chemicals within people’s exhaled breath are specific to every person and can signify events going on inside the body, “breathprints” may prove useful for collecting clinical information about people that they may not even know themselves.

Currently, researchers and doctors alike are analyzing breath to sniff out certain medical conditions, but in the future the “breathprint” could become a standard test during yearly check-ups.

Source: PLOS ONE, April 2013