What Can Be Diagnosed With the Help of Saliva Testing?

What Can Be Diagnosed With the Help of Saliva Testing? : There are hundreds of different saliva tests, also referred to as a liquid biopsy, that help millions of people each year. However, they are commonly only used for simple non-life threatening diseases, like the common cold.

According to current research, we may be on our way to testing for serious illnesses with simple saliva tests as well. Making these kinds of tests easier would allow us to more easily diagnose things like cancer and other serious illnesses.

Here are some benefits of saliva testing

Improved Safety

Saliva testing is one of the only forms of testing that is non-invasive. Typically tests are done through the collection of blood, which is an invasive procedure that can cause a myriad of problems.

Phlebotomy, the collection of blood, can lead to the exposure of blood-borne diseases, like Hepatitis or HIV. Needles also cause problems. Many patients may be uncomfortable with the sight of blood or a big needle, which can lead to fainting.

Easy to Self-Administer

Other forms of testing require the healthcare professional to come into close contact with the patient in order to collect a sample. This can lead to healthcare professionals contracting a various array of diseases from their multitude of patients.

Collecting Saliva is much easier and can even be done by the patient. This ensures the safety of both the healthcare professional and the patient. It’s quicker, easier, and much safer than any other form of testing.

It’s More Affordable

Blood sampling can be a relatively expensive procedure. The extraction of saliva for testing is significantly cheaper. The cost for a blood sample is about $10.88 per sample, where a saliva sample typically costs only $6.93 per sample. A significant difference when conducting hundreds, if not thousands, of these tests every day.

Make Healthcare More Accessible

With its convenience and cheaper price, hospitals are able to provide much more care with saliva tests than if they were to use exclusively blood tests.

Saliva tests are easily transportable, allowing healthcare providers to conduct tests much further than they ever could before. EVen in areas without access to a medical system, the people there could take self-administered tests in order to get their correct diagnosis and seek the help they need.

This would almost be impossible with the use of blood testing. It’s difficult, and unsafe, to collect your own blood sample. The blood would also not be as well suited to travel long distances to testing facilities, unlike saliva.

It’s Accurate

Saliva contains an array of biomarkers that are used to indicate whether a patient has a disease or not. Its equipment requires much more sensitivity compared to blood tests equipment . However, with the correct equipment a diagnosis from a saliva test is extremely reliable.

Saliva offers a future of more accessible and affordable healthcare for those who currently lack the proper resources. It also gives us hope to more easily detect life threatening diseases early on.