Dogs are now being trained to predict Parkinson’s disease and cancer in patients, long before they actually realize. Even technology has not been able to keep pace with these outstanding dogs. With up to 98% accuracy, dogs have been helping many patients stay healthy and safe from future obstacles.
After a double blind trial, it was finally confirmed that the findings of the dogs were accurate enough to be supported. By training the dogs to tell the difference between various skin oil production or sebum, Parkinson’s disease can be detected. Trained dogs have been constantly exposed to different samples of skin and have correctly identified the sample with the disease 90% of the time.
As for identifying cancer, dogs use their impeccable sense of smell to detect the Volatile Organic Compound, also known as VOC, which cancerous cells produce. Dogs can be trained to detect cancer in breath (lung/breast), urine (bladder/prostate), and stool (colorectal). Multiple pieces of evidence exist of dogs persistently sniffing, licking, or pawing at skin areas where tumors developed.
Specific olfactory ability genes code dogs to have the ability to sniff out diseases in humans. For a long time, dogs have only been used to find explosives and drugs. But now, they can use their sense of smell to do more good for the world. While humans only have 5 million scent receptors, dogs have receptors that are 10,000 times more accurate than humans, and a nose powerful enough to detect substances at concentrations of one part per trillion. Dogs also inhale up to 300 times per minute, which means they inhale multiple odors at a time. They can notice even the slightest change of smell, which is what truly helps them detect the new arrival of the disease.
The first account of a dog detecting a disease was in 1989 when a dog consistently would sniff and try to bite a mole on a woman’s leg. It had later turned out to be a malignant melanoma. This began the revolution of dogs’ medical abilities.
