Saliva Test: Non-invasive Method To Detect Diabetes

Filed in archive Developments , Notable , Research on April 28, 2009

© juhansonin

On May 15, at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 18th Annual Meeting & Clinical Congress in Houston, Texas, a new research promoting saliva test in detecting type 2 diabetes will be revealed.

While searching for biomarkers that may indicate diabetes, doctors examined the saliva of 40 different patients. Through salivary analysis, they managed to devise a new "non-invasive" method for detecting diabetes that foregoes the uncomfortable prick of a needle - patients need only to spit into a cup. The spit test could be performed for little cost in a doctor's office or at a patient's home.

"Our goal was to characterize proteins in human saliva that may indicate prediabetes and type-2," said Srinivasa R. Nagalla, MD a member of the research team. "Analysis of these proteins allowed us to develop a new method for screening, detecting and monitoring the diabetic state."

Indeed this a a wonderful breakthrough that will enable diabetes detection without the needle prick. I suppose most people will prefer this over the traditional method of needle pricking.