People with emotional disturbances often cry. This is often an expression of emotions, including sadness, fear, or even anger. But what if it’s also an indicator of our physical health? According to a study published in ACS Nano, scientists have learned that a person’s tears can be used to diagnose diseases.
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Thanks to the iTEARS project, human tears can now be used in disease detection.
Researchers have discovered that our body’s cellular signals are transmitted in tiny information sacs called tears. Tears, also known as exosomes, are similar to other bodily fluids that contain indicators of disease. Blood and urine are commonly used to check for the presence of diseases. And according to this study, human tears can now be used as well.
Tears could offer doctors a new perspective on patients, according to the study led by Wenzhou Medical University. In the study, which they named iTEARS, it is aimed to detect people’s diseases more reliably and easily.
For the iTEARS experiment, which stands for Analysis of Tear Exosomes Combined with Rapid Isolation Systems, the researchers collected just a few drops of tears. It was then put into a machine that uses nanoporous membranes for five minutes to filter the sample and read its findings.
They discovered that several eye conditions leave distinctive patterns in tears. In fact, as the researchers dug deeper into the study, they found they could even trace the evolution of diabetes. According to one of the study’s authors, Luke Lee, of Harvard Medical School, the group aims to further the research and shed light on depression and other mental states using tears.
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