Scientists are developing new ways to spot illnesses early, and they say crying could save your life.
According to an article from the daily mail, your tears could provide an early warning for cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disease and even predict your risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
Engineers at Kobe University in Japan are actually developing a device that uses tears to detect breast cancer quickly and easily.
They say our tears are made from precious traces of chemicals in our bodies that can be used as markers of illness.
Experts say using tear samples greatly reduces the costs of testing and allows for much faster cancer detection as well as help people with diabetes monitor their blood sugar without a finger-prick.
Researchers conducted a study of 100 people with type 2 diabetes who they showed that the levels of glycoalbumin (a modified protein which reflects the average blood glucose levels over the preceding two weeks) in tears correlated with the levels in blood.
The lead researcher, Dr. Masakazu Aihara, told the European Association for the Study of Diabetes last September that they are now fine-tuning their system for commercial use.