Saliva

Janet Dodd was impressed yesterday with the elegant decor of the National Museum of Dentistry. Then she found the saliva room. On a pedestal in the center of the room stood a beaker filled with a murky gel. It was meant to simulate the 600 milliliters of saliva a person produces in a single day - enough to fill a soda bottle from a vending machine. Dodd winced in disgust at the sight of the beaker's contents. "I have no interest in this," she said, exiting the room quickly. The display is part of an exhibit titled Saliva: A Remarkable Fluid.

A defense team that includes a DNA expert from O. J. Simpson's "dream team" is working out an arrangement with Anne Arundel County prosecutors to retest saliva from a 1992 murder.Last week, Circuit Judge Michael E. Loney erased the murder conviction and ordered a new trial for handyman Albert Givens, who is serving life without parole, in the bludgeoning and fatal stabbing of Marlene Kilpatrick of Arnold.Loney skewered Givens' defense counsel, writing that defense errors were so crucial and baffling that they resulted in Givens' unfair conviction.

Travis Blake, a senior at Chesapeake High School, was in critical condition last night at North Arundel Hospital in Glen Burnie with bacterial meningitis, hospital officials said.His illness comes two weeks after an Annapolis High School junior died of the disease, but county health department officials say that there is no connection between the two cases."We're dealing with a different strain of the organism," said Frances Phillips, the county's chief health officer.Cara Margaret Petrini, 16, died of the disease April 10.Blake is a center on the school's basketball team.

The man who pumped bullets into the heads of two Annapolis lawyers in 1994 was careful to leave no witnesses, no weapon, and no fingerprints. He was thirsty, though. And that was what eventually did him in.The streak of saliva Scotland E. Williams left behind after taking a swig from a water glass sitting on a kitchen counter betrayed him. On the glass was enough of his DNA for police to put him at the crime scene, and Williams was convicted of the double-murder last spring.These days, it doesn't take much to thwart what might have been the perfect murder only 10 years ago. Just a drop of saliva, a spot of blood or a couple of strands of hair and there it is, all that is unique to you, bathing in the light of a microscope.

Q. I chuckled when I read the recent column about athlete's foot and saliva. The fellow had read that dogs lick their wounds because saliva has healing properties, and he wondered if it would work for athlete's foot.My uncle had his athlete's foot cured by his small terrier some years back. When my uncle came home in the evenings, he would remove his shoes and socks and put his feet on a hassock while reading the newspaper. The dog always went to him immediately and licked his feet all over, especially between the toes.

Someday, getting screened for cancers of the mouth and throat could start with spitting into a cup.Researchers with the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center reported progress yesterday toward a simple and inexpensive test that would find genetic evidence of these cancers in saliva. The evidence would come from cells that slough off from tumors, including those too small to produce symptoms or detect through conventional means.Dr. David Sidransky, a Hopkins cancer researcher, said the screening method would be of particular value to people who smoke, chew tobacco or drink alcohol -- habits that account for almost all of the 40,000 cancers of the mouth and throat that occur each year in the United States.

In old-fashioned murder mysteries, the killer's sweaty palms always give him away. The intuitive detective -- attentive, adept at reading human nature -- quickly recognizes them as a sure sign of guilt.Now, investigators say they require not intuition but DNA. They need only a drop of the sweat."When a person leaves any DNA at his crime scene, whether it's a drop of blood, saliva or perspiration, he's left us his calling card," says Paul Ferrara, a noted DNA researcher and head of Virginia's state crime laboratory, the Division of Forensic Science.

College is by all accounts a perfect place to acquire knowledge, an ideal setting to fall in love, and, health experts say, one of the best spots imaginable to contract a contagious disease like meningitis."

Anne Arundel and state health officials are trying to track down a man and two children whose kind deed of bringing a sick cat to a Pasadena veterinarian could cost them their lives.The cat was rabid.The three must be checked for exposure to rabies and, if necessary, start preventive treatment "ideally by Saturday," said Lisa Purvis, program manager for communicable diseases for Anne Arundel County. The typical incubation period for rabies is about 10 days."Rabies is an invariably fatal disease," said Karon Damewood, nurse consultant for the state Center for Veterinary Public Health.

As cunning as the Unabomber has proved to be, he may long ago have inadvertently given the FBI identifying evidence, simply by licking stamps and envelopes he then mailed, criminalists said yesterday.Even scant cells in old, dried saliva can yield enough DNA to link a suspect to a crime or location, the forensic scientists said in commenting on reports that the FBI might have DNA samples from the Unabomber."I imagine one of the first things they did was collect hair and blood samples" from the Unabomber suspect, Theodore J. Kaczynski, after he was arrested Wednesday, said Thomas Wahl, a criminalist with the Las Vegas Police Crime Laboratory.

Sometimes called the "kissing disease" because it is most frequently spread through saliva, mononucleosis often is considered a teen illness. In fact, almost every adult (if tested) will show signs of having been infected by this virus, says Ben Hand, a primary-care physician in the department of medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Just about everyone has heard of "mono." What causes this disease? Mononucleosis or infectious mononucleosis is characterized by fever, sore throat or swollen lymph nodes, and it is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, which is in the herpes family.

Joe Moffett wishes the spit test was available four years ago, before the tumor near the base of his tongue put him through months of radiation treatments, chemotherapy and surgery -- plus the hassle of taking nourishment through a feeding tube inserted at Johns Hopkins Hospital. "Having a test out there, I could have avoided a whole lot. But still, I thank the good Lord I'm alive, and I'm excited about this test. It could help a lot of people," said Moffett, 69, a retired Army pilot from Dillon, S.C. Researchers at Hopkins published findings this month showing they are close to developing a mouth rinse that can detect head and neck cancer such as Moffett's.

An increasing number of studies indicate that periodontal health - that of the gums and the bones and ligaments that support the teeth - is related to the body's overall well- being, including cardiovascular health. Some studies also have shown a relationship between a pregnant woman's periodontal health and premature birth. Although no one is claiming that there is a causal relationship between poor periodontal health and other systemic diseases, there is a great deal of research aimed at further defining these associations, says Harlan Shiau, assistant professor of periodontics at the University of Maryland Dental School.

Switchfoot -- Rams Head Live / Since the release of its 2003 double-platinum hit The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot has been steadily proving itself. Drawing inspiration from talents such as U2, Michael Jackson, the Beatles and Miles Davis, the band prides itself on diversity and instrumental experimentation. The group performs with the Florida band Copeland at 7 p.m. Sunday at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, Baltimore. Tickets are $22.50 -$25. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.

Janet Dodd was impressed yesterday with the elegant decor of the National Museum of Dentistry. Then she found the saliva room. On a pedestal in the center of the room stood a beaker filled with a murky gel. It was meant to simulate the 600 milliliters of saliva a person produces in a single day - enough to fill a soda bottle from a vending machine. Dodd winced in disgust at the sight of the beaker's contents. "I have no interest in this," she said, exiting the room quickly. The display is part of an exhibit titled Saliva: A Remarkable Fluid.

When I received this assignment - following thoroughbred racehorses and their trainers through an arduous road trip - the editor warned, "It's going to be a long day." "Where am I headed?" I asked. He replied, "We'll start at Pimlico, stop at Laurel and then down to Virginia, Colonial Downs." My next question was, "Do I have to ride with the horses?" The editor chuckled, confidently declared "no" and explained that I'd be riding in the van with trainers. And then he cautioned again, "It'll be a really long day."

Is chewing gum good for you? The sugarless kind is, at least as far as your teeth are concerned. Chewing gum, either sugar-free or sugary, "causes us to salivate, and saliva has tremendously beneficial effects," said Dr. Matthew Messina a dentist in Cleveland who is a consumer adviser for the American Dental Association. Saliva "is a buffering solution. It washes the teeth." Sugary chewing gum is not a good idea, though. Sugar causes bacteria in the mouth to secrete acid, which dissolves tooth enamel, causing cavities.

A Miami company has introduced a new over-the-counter kit to monitor a woman's ovulation cycle, essential to planning or avoiding pregnancy. The catch: Unlike popular kits that use urine to detect a woman's monthly hormone levels, the OvaTel (ovatel.com) is a saliva-based test. A woman uses a small, portable microscope to determine whether her saliva has higher salt levels than normal - an indication of ovulation. Fertility Tech Inc., selling the OvaTel for $21.95, says it is the first nonbattery-operated saliva-based test.

Using DNA evidence and photos taken from ATM surveillance cameras, the Anne Arundel Police Department has charged a homeless man in what the county's police chief called the "brutal" rape and assault of a Severna Park woman Saturday night. Rodrick Lee Wren, 36, was charged with first-degree rape, first and second-degree assault, and first degree burglary. He was arrested in Glen Burnie on Wednesday and booked at the Northern District police station. At a bail hearing yesterday, Anne Arundel County Judge Megan B. Johnson ruled that he will be held without bail.

Within two years, you may be able to go for a regular dental visit, spit into a cup and before your appointment is over, find out from an analysis of your saliva whether you're at risk for oral cancer. Currently, dentists have to do a thorough mouth exam to probe for oral cancer, which will strike more than 28,000 Americans a year and kill more than 7,000. Within a few more years, a fancier spit test may determine whether you're at risk for a number of other diseases as well, including breast cancer, Type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer, Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.