A hydrogen breath test diagnoses gastrointestinal issues caused by lactose intolerance, bacterial overgrowth, or malabsorption. The non-invasive test involves fasting, drinking a sugar solution, and periodic breath samples. Results can help doctors recommend treatment.
A hydrogen breath test is a diagnostic test that is done to find out more about the causes of gastrointestinal problems. This test is classically done when it is suspected that someone is lactose intolerant or unable to process other sugars such as fructose. It can also be used to diagnose bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine or to check if food is moving too quickly through the intestinal tract, causing malabsorption of food and nutrients. The test takes about two hours in most cases, with the patient going to a hospital or clinic for the test.
The science behind the hydrogen breath test involves bacteria that live in your gut. Their waste products and concentrations change depending on the health of the host. In many people, if the bacteria are exposed to large amounts of undigested food, they start producing hydrogen, which is expressed in the breath. Methane overproduction can also occur in combination with or instead of hydrogen gas.
For a hydrogen breath test, the patient fasts for eight to 12 hours and then blows air into a balloon as a reference sample. Then, the patient is asked to drink a solution that may contain lactose, fructose, sorbitol, sucrose, lactulose or another sugar. For the next two hours, periodic samples of the patient’s breath are taken and tested for hydrogen and sometimes methane. If the hydrogen and/or methane levels are unusually high, it indicates that the patient has a problem along the digestive tract. A negative result doesn’t necessarily mean the patient is healthy, however, as some people lack the hydrogen-producing bacteria that are manipulated for testing.
The hydrogen breath test is non-invasive and painless and is often scheduled for the morning so that patients can simply fast overnight to avoid undue difficulty with the fasting requirement. Test results are returned quickly, and a patient can discuss the implications of the result with the doctor. It is important that the patient has not taken antibiotics or anything else that could change the demographics of the bacteria in the gut for at least two weeks prior to the test, as this can skew the results.
Signs that may lead a doctor to recommend a hydrogen breath test include abdominal bloating, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, gastrointestinal discomfort, and other signs that someone isn’t absorbing nutrients well or is having trouble processing food. By determining what is causing the problem, the doctor can make recommendations for treatment, such as adjusting the patient’s diet or prescribing antibiotics to bring the bacterial population back into balance.
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