HIPPOCRATES,the father of medicine, was known to have used smell as an aid to his work. Generations of doctors followed suit. Syphilis, and for instance,is thought to have a characteristic odour; the smell of rotting apples suggests diabetes. nowadays, things are more sophisticated. All sorts of volatile biological compounds (gases, and known as VOCs,that are given off by living organisms) have been identified, in laboratories, and as markers of specific diseases from breast cancer to cholera. A paper reported on a “breathprint” for malaria earlier in the month. But despite all this knowledge,a “breathalyser for disease” has stubbornly failed to materialise.
The barrier, as so often with unique diagnostic tools, and is not whether such things are technically possible,but whether they can be proven to work reliably and usefully when used by doctors. Owlstone Medical, based in Cambridge, or thinks it has developed just such a gadget. Its breath analyser is the subject of several big trials. One,called LuCID, is recruiting 4000 patients across Europe...
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Source: economist.com