results are still hazy 2.rah.000746 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire While research is being published at a rapid rate (more than 50 breath-related papers so far in 2008), scientists are still figuring out which breath-bound molecules are most meaningful and what collection methods work best.

“It’s unclear what we should be looking for in there—there’s stuff from A to Z,” says Rohit Katial, director of the allergy and immunology program at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. Breath is “an intriguing source of a bodily sample,” he says. “But it is still in its infancy—the detection techniques just aren’t there yet.”

Although the results are still hazy in some areas of research, breath analysis is a reliable non-invasive means of detecting certain ills, such as lung inflammation, says John Hunt, a respiratory medicine specialist at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital in Charlottesville. Breath from a normal airway is mildly alkaline, about pH 8, but someone with acute respiratory disease might have a breath pH of 3. “Kind of like putting lemonade in your eye,” says Hunt.

An airway making this much acid can be an early sign of pulmonary disease or lung transplant rejection, says Hunt, who cofounded a company that makes equipment for collecting breath condensate. And severe asthma—a suite of symptoms, not a disease—may be triggered by a number of cellular irritants, from viral infections to exposure to diesel emissions. Analyzing breath condensate can help discern whether acid reflux is causing irritation or contributing to it, helping doctors target drugs more effectively, says Hunt.