ANSWER:

There are two ways to determine your secretor status: one that looks for blood type antigens in saliva, and another which uses another blood group system as a 'proxy.'

North American Pharmacal is developing a simple saliva based secretor test in association with Great Smokies Laboratories. They hope to have this test available by early winter.

You can also determine secretor status by using blood. Secretor status (whether you are genetically programmed to secrete your blood type antigen in your body fluids) is determined by a gene (FUT2) on chromosome 19 versus ABO which is one chromosome 9. FUT2 controls an enzyme which also controls the conversion of the Lewis blood group A antigen (LewisA) into Lewis blood group B antigen (Lewis.

Individuals who are non-secretors lack the enzyme needed to convert LewisA into LewisB. Thus you can use the Lewis blood group as a 'quick and dirty way' to determine ABH secretor status. Thus Lewis A-B+ individuals are ABH secretors, and Lewis A+B- individuals are non-secretors. A small percentage of individuals are Lewis A-B-, which makes it impossible to determine their secretor status. However, metabolically 'double negative Lewis' individals are perhaps even more metabolically 'non-secretors' than anyone else.

A recent study showed that Lewis A+ non-secretors snore more than secretors. Looking at men who had their own bedroom due to snoring (habitual snorers only) the factor most strongly separating those with their own bedroom due to snoring from those without were the Lewis blood group phenotype, Le(a+b-)p < 0.001. The results of this study indicate that snoring, to some extent, is hereditary.

Jennum P, Hein HO, Suadicani P, Sorensen H, Gyntelberg F. Snoring, family history, and genetic markers in men. The Copenhagen Male Study.Chest 1995 May;107(5):1289-93