Sniffer Dogs In Medicine Help Detect Diseases & Aid Patients; Cancer, Diabetes, Autism, More

[appalachiablue]

'How Super Sniffer Dogs Are Able To Detect Disease Around The World,' NPR, Jan. 25, 2020. Fascinating ~

~ "With ovarian cancer, there's not much great testing for early detection. I heard about these dogs at the Univ. of Penn. Veterinary Working Dog Center that are able to smell ovarian cancer. They're able to detect it as early as stage one. We're not even talking tumors here. They're able to detect ovarian cancer in one drop of plasma from a woman with ovarian cancer." ~



-- Dogs' olfactory capacity — they can sniff in parts per trillion — primes them to detect disease and their genius for observing our behavior helps them guide us physically and emotionally.

As the owner of a yellow lab named Gus, author Maria Goodavage has had many occasions to bathe her pooch when he rolls around in smelly muck at the park. Nevertheless, her appreciation for his keen sense of smell has inspired her to write best-selling books about dogs with special assignments in the military and the U.S. Secret Service.

Her latest, Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine, highlights a vast array of special medical tasks that dogs can perform — from the laboratory to the bedside, and everywhere else a dog can tag along and sniff.

Canines' incredible olfactory capacity — they can sniff in parts per trillion — primes them to detect disease, and their genius for observing our behavior helps them guide us physically and emotionally.

Goodavage spoke with NPR contributor John Henning Schumann, a doctor and host of Public Radio Tulsa's #MedicalMonday about what she has learned about dogs in medicine...

Read More, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/25/799404129/how-super-sniffer-dogs-are-helping-detect-disease-around-the-world

[stopdiggin]

1. the reference to autism really caught me off guard ..

would this be an olfactory thing? Or a general sensitivity to mood and behavior?
In any event .. VERY interesting.

[appalachiablue]

2. Dogs are highly observant of stress, worry, changing health & behavior

> "You write about doctor dogs helping people with autism. Can you share an example?

Yeah, it's really beautiful. Sometimes these dogs may be using their nose. Sometimes they're just being highly observant. And dogs are. They watch our body language all the time. But there are now more dogs being used for children on the autism spectrum, and they are remarkable. They can usually tell ahead of time when a child is about to have a tremendous amount of anxiety, panic, meltdown or what have you. When there's too much stimulation for a child with autism and the dog is there, they'll lean into the child."