Can Bad Breath Be a Good Thing?
Just when you thought nothing could ever amaze you, scientists have gone and done it again.
Japanese scientists have discovered that halitosis provides the best environment for cultivating hepatic (liver) cells.
When incubated with hydrogen sulphide, the chemical compound responsible for bad breath, stem cells harvested from human dental pulp transform into liver cells at an astonishing rate.
The ramifications of this finding can be extensive, especially for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The study covering these findings was recently published in IOP Publishing’s Journal of Breath Research.
Dr. Ken Yagaeki and his research team at Nippon Dental University are optimistic that utilizing stem cells from dental pulp may well replace conventional cell production techniques, two of which use human bone marrow fetal bovine serum.
Dr. Yagaeki became curious about the quantity and power of stem cells in dental pulp after observing that teeth plagued by cavities were highly resilient.
The research team stood alone against a backlash of skepticism from colleagues, but the last laugh was truly on the skeptics when the results were examined.
Now these results have been documented, and time will tell about their far-reaching effects on the medical world and the treatment of disease.
Bad breath, we salute you (but still from a distance).
(Link)
MDeeDubroff
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