I was fascinated to learn that doctor dogs may also have a role in detecting so-called "superbugs," that is, antibiotic-resistant microbes. So the person has an extra bit of time to do what they need to do, take glucose or whatever. The dogs are somehow able to put it together and tell the person 15 or maybe 20 minutes before the person's devices even say, 'Hey, you're going into the low range!' because the dogs detect this in real time. We don't know what the dogs are smelling, but the trainers are training the dogs on the scent of hypoglycemia and also hyperglycemia. So their noses are really primed.Īnother area in which dogs excel in the clinical world is for patients with diabetes. Humans have six million olfactory receptors and dogs have up to 300 million. They can detect a tablespoon of a substance, like a packet of sugar, in two Olympic-sized swimming pools. What the dogs are doing now is remarkable and it's because their sense of smell is so keen. The fact that the dogs can do this is exciting to me, and I think for so many people who have hard-to-detect cancers in the family. They're able to detect ovarian cancer in one drop of plasma from a woman with ovarian cancer. They're able to detect it as early as stage one. I heard about these dogs at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Working Dog Center that are able to smell ovarian cancer. With ovarian cancer, there's not much great testing for early detection. I do have skin in this game, actually, because unfortunately, we have ovarian cancer in the family. You also report on dogs that can detect ovarian cancer, which is personal for you. They're incredibly good at detecting disease. It was really fun to see these service and research dogs working with their people and how good they are. And I wanted to find the best of the best, cutting-edge medical dogs around the world. There's a village about five hours north of Tokyo where scientists were doing some research among a population that has a very high level of stomach cancer. The first doctor dogs I learned about were in Japan. You reported on dogs doing this kind of work all over the world. And if they're paired with a person, they bond with that person to tell them something that will save their life. And really, doctor dogs are, for the most part, using their incredible sense of smell to detect diseases. They're either working in research or right beside someone to save their life every day. These are dogs on the cutting edge of medicine. I've been reading and writing about military dogs and Secret Service dogs for many years now, and it was sort of a natural next step. What led you to look into dogs in medicine? This interview has been edited for clarity and length. 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 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.Ĭanines' 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. Nevertheless, her appreciation for his keen sense of smell has inspired her write best-selling books about dogs with special assignments in the military and the U.S. Dogs' olfactory capacity - they can sniff in parts per trillion - primes them to detect disease.Īs 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.
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