Detecting some diseases, knowing if a woman is pregnant and if she is at risk, or measuring if there is doping or drug use, are some of the things that can be detected through saliva.
99% of saliva is made up of water and perhaps that makes some underestimate this ‘liquid element’. But let’s not forget that the remaining 1% is essential because it contains electrolytes, glycoproteins, enzymes, immune cells, epithelial cells, lipids, and carbohydrates. These compounds are not only responsible for important functions in our body, but are also capable of ‘telling on’ some diseases and physiological states. We have two saliva factories. 93% is produced in the major salivary glands and help digest food. The other 7% corresponds to the minor salivary glands and its function is to lubricate the walls of the oral cavity.
Is saliva produced at all hours of the day?
If the mouth is not used, the glands are at rest and, therefore, during the night the production of saliva is reduced. What can be the problem? As saliva exerts a protective effect on the mouth and teeth, it is not convenient for us that the levels of this fluid are too low. This is one of the reasons why it is essential to brush your teeth before going to bed.
What functions does saliva perform?
Saliva lives multiple jobs. These are his eight main workswhich are a few.
1. In the first place, your most obvious task is to lubricate and keep the oral cavity, mucous membranes and teeth moist, helping digestion of food. Saliva is important to form the bolus and provides the necessary enzymes to start the digestion process. The first digestion begins in the mouth! In addition, saliva is rich in mucus, so it wraps food so that it passes through the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus smoothly and without damaging the mucosa. That is to say, that if you take a ‘currusco’ of bread that is a little hard and full of edges, do not hurt your throat.
2. Heal the tissues. Saliva contains a growth factor that aids in the healing of the tissues of the mouth. This does not give us permission to suck our children’s wounds as if we were a dog, but within the mouth itself it does have this function.
3. Antibacterial and antifungal function. saliva clean your mouth and contains the enzyme lysozyme, with antibacterial action. It is like one of these modern ovens that is capable of cleaning itself.
4. Maintain neutral pH, that is, neutralizes the acids produced after the meal or that are taken with the diet (There are many acidic foods, such as juice). By balancing the pH, it prevents the demineralization of the enamel and protects it against caries and the accumulation of bacterial plaque. This is especially important if you have gastroesophageal reflux, as the acid ‘rises and falls’.
5. serve as non-invasive diagnostic tool since multiple pathologies (such as Covid) can be identified, or even the predisposition to suffer from them.
6.digest carbohydrates thanks to ptyalin (also known as alpha-amylase). The word ‘amylase’ sounds like starch to us, precisely because its mission is to begin the digestion of starches in the diet which, be careful, account for 60% of the carbohydrates ingested daily. What is the problem? That salivary amylase lasts less than candy at the door of a school and is inactivated by gastric acids. That is why it is essential that during chewing the saliva be properly mixed with the food to achieve proper digestion. In summary, if you eat like a turkey, fast and running, you don’t give time for saliva and its digestive action to take effect.
7.digest fats thanks to the secretion of lipase in the lingual glands.
8. Facilitate speech by moisturizing the mucosa of the pharynx and oral cavity. That is to say: if you have a pasty mouth, you do not speak well.
What diseases can be detected by saliva?
Many bad bugs are floating in the saliva that we can identify in two ways. Either directly putting the magnifying glass, that is, analyzing their genes with a PCR, or assessing the specific antibodies that our body produces against said bugs. For example, in the United Kingdom there are programs to detect rubella simply with a saliva sample. It can also be detected hepatitis, HIV and, of course, Covid as we have seen during the pandemic..
Other information about which saliva “tells”:
– Saliva can reveal to us in which phase of the menstrual cycle the woman is, if you are pregnant or even if it is a high-risk pregnancy.
– It informs us about the defensive agents that swarm through our body. From saliva you can get a lot of information about how defenses work.
– Knowing our saliva can also be assess the probability of suffering cavities.
– It can also be used to assess the oxidative state of the person and to measure physiological changes in different situations such as physical effort. This could be useful especially for athletes.
– Lastly, drugs can be detected in saliva or analytes that are traditionally measured in blood, such as urea and creatinine, can be measured. It can also be useful for measuring drug use or doping.
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