Can what really causes bad breath include diseases?
Yes.
While poor dental hygiene accounts for most cases of halitosis, bad breath can sometimes be a signal for an underlying medical condition. And even when you take “bad breath” out of the equation, breath can still demonstrate health issues: a slew of recent studies have used simple breath tests to screen for medical conditions.
1. Diabetes
READ: 6 Fixes For Not-So-Fresh Breath
A fruity breath odor, or an odor similar to acetone (commonly used in nail polish remover) can also signify a serious complication in diabetic patients called ketoacidosis.
When the body doesn’t have enough insulin, it instead uses fatty acids for energy, which produces acidic ketones, byproducts of fat metabolism.
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These acids, which include acetone, hydroxybutyrate, and acetoacetate, can accumulate in the blood and lead to a diabetic coma and death.
2. Lung Cancer
Doctors found that among the non-smokers, lung cancer was accurately identified in 128 subjects and misdiagnosed in only five. Among smokers, they correctly identified 114 people as having lung cancer, misdiagnosing five. Both smokers and non-smokers with bad breath can be at risk.
READ: 5 Foods Your Dentist Won’t Touch
3. Heart Problems
Researchers were able to use a simple breath test to identify patients suffering from heart failure, according to a March 2013 paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Cleveland Clinic researchers collected breath samples from 41 patients. Twenty-five were officially diagnosed with
