Could Your Dog Save Your Life?
You’ve heard the saying, “The eyes have it.”
But when it comes to dogs, it’s all about the NOSE.
Dogs have been using their powerful sense of smell to save lives for years. They are renowned for putting their sniffers to work when it comes to finding drugs, bombs, and landmines.
But the police and military aren’t the only ones harnessing this canine superpower.
Research finds that dogs can sniff out some of the deadliest diseases in humans – with better accuracy than some of the best diagnostic tests out there.
You may have never seen a dog sniff out a bomb, but you’ve probably seen ones that can sniff out a buried bone… or that crumb that dropped behind the sofa.
That’s because a dog’s smell receptors aren’t just twice as powerful as a humans… or even five times as powerful.
They are 10,000 times more powerful than yours or mine.
It’s been reported for years that dogs can sniff out certain diseases, but a company in Florida called BioScent DX is officially researching a dog’s ability to sniff out cancer.
Researchers trained four beagles to sniff out malignant lung cancer from a blood sample.
When the dogs were put to the test, three of the dogs were able to sniff out the cancerous blood with 96.7% accuracy, and the normal (non-cancerous) blood with 97.5% accuracy.
That’s more effective than some of the most accurate cancer screening tests out there!
This is a very important finding because catching a cancer in its earliest stage is the best hope for living to tell about it.
Does this mean that dogs are about to make their way into medical facilities across the US?
Probably not.
What’s more likely is that researchers will use this information to find out exactly which compounds in the blood are being sniffed out by the dogs… and then creating tests to identify those compounds.
I don’t care what method you use. As long as the test is safe, accurate, and effective, I’m all for it.
P.S. Dogs have also been found to be able to detect dangerous blood sugar changes, malaria, and seizures.
