Update in Atherothrombo tic Disease

A non-invasive, non-instrumented method and test kit for oral sampling and subsequent rapid or point-of-care sample analysis and diagnosis, including pH determination for detecting the presence and extent of gastroesophageal (acid) reflux. The test for acid reflux includes sampling of the pharynx by gargling with specified liquid (10) and then retrieving the resulting fluid and measuring its pH. The invention may be used both for rapid self-testing in the home as well as for point-of-care diagnosis by health professionals. A test kit for obtaining an oral sample contains an article (16) for measuring the sampling liquid (10) for gargling, a container (12) for depositing the sampling liquid (10) after gargling, a horizontal line (14) provided thereon to serve as an indicator that an adequate volume of gargled sampling liquid (10) was collected, and diagnostic tools (18, 20, 22, 24) for identification of a characteristic of interest, such as pH, of the retrieved sampling liquid (10) within the collection container (12) at the time of retrieval.