INVERNESS, Scotland -- Simple breath tests taken during routine visits to doctors or dentists could one day provide early warning of a whole range of potentially devastating conditions from schizophrenia to diabetes.
"My mother-in-law likes to say that no one gets out alive," said Dr. Brian Ross, research director at the pioneering Ness Foundation, located on the banks of Loch Ness near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. "But I would rather stop horrible chronic degenerative diseases before they happen if at all possible."
In fact, the foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life of people with neuro-developmental disorders and associated conditions by conducting research into safer, more effective diagnostic tests and treatments. It also works to break down the stigma surrounding debilitating conditions such as schizophrenia, a mental illness affecting an estimated one in 100 people.
In academic partnership with the UHI Millennium Institute and other organizations around the world, the Ness Foundation is probing the role of lipids -- specifically fatty acids -- in schizophrenia, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.
The concept of phospholipid spectrum disorder, which essentially describes problems with the cell membrane that may cause a breakdown in communication between brain cells, is changing the way we think about psychiatric disorders.
Ross, a biochemist, and his team are developing breath analysis tests that detect chemicals associated with various illnesses. Pan Diagnostics, a commercial subsidiary of the Ness Foundation, has come up with a simple air-lock bag that can be used to trap breath, allowing analysts to detect evidence of oxidative stress and fatty acid performance based on the breakdown of omega-3 fatty acids.
In everyday life, oxidative stress describes what happens when iron rusts and butter turns rancid. The havoc is wreaked by free radical molecules, which are the products of normal cell processes. But the destruction caused by free radical molecules in the body can result in untold damage to brain cells. Damage caused by free radicals also can lead to a loss of some types of fatty acids in the brain, in turn leading to problems with brain function and behavior.
Ross' team has discovered that some people with mental illness may also be under oxidative stress. They are attempting to identify new drugs that can effectively reduce oxidative stress in the brain. Simple fish oil supplements, rich in the omega-3 fatty acids essential to our health, are one such source found in nature.
The team has found that certain marker gases given off in the breath can give advance warning of excessive oxidative stress. Ross calls this area of study breathonomics. Scientists will typically analyze only six out of 3,000 compounds which can be detected in our breath. The machinery they use is capable of detecting 0.1 parts per billion.
Evidence shows, for example, high levels of acetone in diabetics. Some research also points to markers for lung disease.
Ross, former head of cell signaling at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, brings a missionary zeal to the research. "Breath analysis is totally noninvasive," he said. "You're just asking people to do what they do every second of their lives: breathe. It's far easier than a blood or urine test. You could get a breath test when you visit the dentist, for example. It's a great idea. It will happen."
They work on a budget Ross describes as "a tenth of what our counterparts in the United States are on. Our cash flow never looks good but we're still here five years on. What can I say? We work very long hours."
And the motivation? He's candid about one of them. "Let's be honest, there's astonishing commercial potential so people in this field tend to be quite secretive," he said. "But at some point all these bits of research will come together. That will certainly happen."
That potential probably explains why heavy-hitting backers such as the European Union, with its regional development fund, have helped bankroll new research.
As for the benefits of good old-fashioned fish oil, Ross is unambiguous. "I think everyone should be taking it every day," he said. "Study after study shows the benefits. Sometimes I feel that nutritional treatment is still regarded as faintly ridiculous. For some reason, in the West we have a problem with the idea of prevention.
"The Chinese have a great saying: 'Pay your doctor when you're well to prevent you getting sick.' We seem to have a mindset where we wait to get sick before thinking about it. I hope this research might help change those attitudes. I'd recommend thinking about these things in your 20s rather than waiting till you retire and it's too late."
