The dog knows the truth
Dogs are famous for their sense of smell. This sense is so advanced in dogs that they can smell disease or medical conditions. With over 220 million scent receptors—compared to five to 10 million in humans—dogs can smell things that seem unfathomable to us. Dogs’ ability to detect odors is 10,000 to 100,000 times that of humans. They can detect some odors in parts per trillion, and they can detect countless subtleties in scents. There are dogs who have sniffed out medical issues that even doctors weren’t aware of.
Dogs are most famous for detecting is Cancer. Dogs have been able to sniff out a variety of types including breast cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, and lung cancer. A 2019 study found that dogs can correctly pick out blood samples from people who have cancer with 97% accuracy.
Narcolepsy is a disorder that affects the ability to control sleep-wake cycles. A person with narcolepsy can suddenly fall asleep, even in the middle of a task. It’s a dangerous condition as someone who has an attack could be injured falling to the ground or in a car accident if it happens while driving. The director of training and behavior for the Service Dog Academy believes that the dogs are able to pick up on a scent when a narcolepsy attack is coming on.
For those who suffer Migraines, having a warning before one comes on can mean the difference between managing the problem or succumbing to hours or days of intense pain. Fortunately, some dogs have a talent for sniffing out the signs that a migraine is on the way.
Increasingly, dogs are being trained to help people with diabetes by alerting them to their Low Blood Sugar level is dropping or spiking. Dogs4Diabetics is one organization that trains and places service dogs with insulin-dependent persons with diabetes. These dogs undergo extensive training to be able to detect and alert their handlers to changes in blood sugar levels. A 2016 study published in the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care found that dogs detect isoprene, a common natural chemical found in human breath that rises significantly during an episode of low blood sugar.
The scientific study of canine response to Epileptic Seizures is insufficient. We can, however, train dogs how to respond to and assist a handler when a seizure occurs. Some service dogs that are placed with seizure patients do develop the ability to detect when a seizure is coming and can provide an alert if the handler pays close attention to the signals the dog provides.
The age-old notion that dogs (and other animals) can Smell Fear is an accurate one. Dogs can smell when we are feeling fear or are experiencing an increased level of stress, even if we aren’t showing outward signs.19 What dogs are smelling is the surge of hormones our bodies release to respond to stressful situations, including adrenaline and cortisol. When dogs smell fear, they show signs of stress.
We still have a long way to go to discover exactly what dogs are smelling about us and that’s a skill that could be a real lifesaver.
How does this smell?
How would an elephant smell without a trunk?
Trunk or no trunk, he would still smell terrible.
How is working at McDonald’s like being an archaeologist in Athens?
You end up smelling like ancient grease.
So they’re going to start shipping Tesla’s without new car smell.
Instead, they’re going to have “Elon Musk.”
I stopped showering or changing my clothes, as a precaution against COVID-19.
If anybody gets within six feet of me, I know they must have lost their sense of smell.
November 10th Birthdays
1995 – Zoey Deutch, 1970 – Ellen Pampeo, 1968 – Tracy Morgan, 1984 – Miranda Lambert
1944 – Tim Rice, 1987 – Josh Peck, 1925 – Richard Burton, 1483 – Martin Luther