Good Morning!
When you think of earwax, “medical marvel” is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. However, researchers are discovering that earwax, a substance many of us find unappealing, contains a goldmine of information about our health.
In 2019, a research team from Brazil developed a new test, called the Cerumenogram, that analyzes biological markers in earwax. Their study could distinguish between cancer patients and healthy controls with 100 percent accuracy.
By 2025, the team expanded their method to detect metabolic changes associated with cancer, successfully identifying different stages of pre-cancer, diagnosing metabolic remission of cancer, and distinguishing between malignant and benign tumors.
“The range of usefulness of earwax has surprised us with each study, and we are sure that the Cerumenogram will become a routine assay with multiple applications for human health and that of other animals,” Nelson Roberto Antoniosi Filho, an author of both studies told The Epoch Times.
Other research from the UK found that earwax could be a more precise measure of cortisol than the standard hair sample and that using earwax was 59 percent more accurate in measuring blood glucose levels than the standard HbA1c test.
Dr. Andrés Herane-Vives, author of both studies, explained that earwax offers a more comprehensive picture for tracking health conditions over time because it accumulates substances that blood, urine, and saliva do not.
Herane-Vives has developed a self-sampling device that allows people to collect their earwax at home and mail samples directly to a lab for analysis.
In Brazil, one of the country’s largest cancer hospitals is already using the Cerumenogram, and Filho says he has no doubt earwax analysis will become routine in the near future. He believes that in the next decade, the Cerumenogram will become as common as a blood test in the rest of the world.
Wishing you a healthy body and a strong mind,
