Principles, advantages and disadvantages
- Depending on the type of test, you must ingest a marked but harmless test substance in the form of a meal, drink or capsule.
- You must then blow into a small tube at regular intervals.
- During digestion, the test substance is transformed and appears in the breath. The speed at which the marker appears in the breath provides information about the function being examined.
Advantages
- Can (usually) be carried out at home.
- Also suitable for children and pregnant women (except the bile acid breath test)
- Simple, painless and non-invasive
Disadvantage
Some tests can take up to 6 hours.