Among ancient peoples, it is said, this precious bodily fluid was used as the basis of a primitive lie detector test. In fact, animals that lick their wounds heal faster than those who don't. As unpleasant as it all sounds, spit is in. Already, a number of companies are using the Internet to tout spit test kits, some of which have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, which acknowledged last week it's scrambling to keep up. In the past, diagnostic tests were not sensitive enough to detect these low concentrations, but now they are.
Insurers also use the OraSure kit to test for marijuana, cocaine, opiates or methamphetamines.
In other countries, the kit is used to collect spit for testing for hepatitis B and other diseases. And soon, this kit and others like it could be used to get DNA for testing from prisoners on parole or people at risk for genetic diseases. Already, doctors use spit tests to monitor hormonal changes in infertile women, says Dr. Philip Fox, former clinical director at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at NIH and now research and development director at Amarillo Biosciences Inc., in Amarillo, Tex. Similarly, SalEst , made by Biex, Inc. in Dublin, Ca. allows women at risk of premature labor to have their spit tested by a doctor for the hormone estriol. If estriol rises before 36 weeks of pregnancy, it's a signal the woman may go into labor prematurely.