New breath test can detect heart failure, other diseases

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- He felt weak, tired and short of breath. To find out what was wrong, Pat Patwardhan underwent weeks of testing.

"They were not easy tests. They poked me, prodded me," said Patwardhan.

After determining it was heart failure, Patwardhan was asked to participate in a new study to see if researchers could detect the condition in his breath. He was impressed with how easy it was.

"You can do it minutes. I just blow the balloon, they can analyze, and come back with the answers for you," he said.

The machine is part of a new generation of diagnostic devices that promise to potentially sniff out all sorts of diseases, including various cancers, liver disease, kidney failure, diabetes, asthma and tuberculosis.

"Our blood goes through the lungs. Anything in the blood that is potentially volatile at body temperature, we can detect it in the breath," said Dr. Raed Dweik with the Cleveland Clinic.

During one preliminary study at the Cleveland Clinic, a breath test was able to detect severe heart failure with 100 percent accuracy.

Another study found breath sampling can be an important tool to detect lung cancer, and possibly even to monitor response to treatment. The best part, according to doctors, these tests are quick, not invasive and cheaper than traditional testing.

"It's really the future of medical testing in general. We are just scratching the surface on the utility of breath testing in medical diagnosis," said Dweik.

Presently, these machines are large and cumbersome, but doctors are looking for ways to shrink them for everyday use.

"Our goal is to build a miniaturized device that is very similar to the breathalyzer test. If we build that then eventually it can be tested at home or in the clinic or anywhere else," said Dweik.

As for Patwardhan, treatment is helping him make up for lost time.

"I feel really good," he said.

If these tests are proven reliable and easy to use, researchers say they could someday be utilized to screen the general population, instead of just those with high risk factors, allowing for earlier detection and the potential to save more lives.