Dogs Earn More Cred For Sniffing Out Cancer

Dogs Earn More Cred For Sniffing Out Cancer

www.npr.org

The evidence just keeps mounting that ordinary dogs can be trained to use their noses to detect various kinds of cancer with near-perfect accuracy — better than any standard test for the disease.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I have been reading stories for years about dogs smelling out cancers. In some cases I had even heard of the dog chewing the tumors off.

Oh no, if word gets out about this the American Cancer Society is going to try to ban dogs from the US. Dogs have been doing for free what is supposed to cost you your home and life-savings. They can't allow a mere house pet replacing millions of dollars of medical devices. Just not the American way

www.npr.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

Moreover, the dog was equally good at sniffing out samples from patients with early-stage cancers as with advanced malignancies

I can't help but think man's best friend is about to turn into the doctor's worst nightmare.

Dogs used for early-detection. "What's that Lassie? Timmy's got a tumor? Quick, let's get him to the doctor. What's that? You can save him? C'mon, let's go then!"

Some scientists are trying to find out using chromatography and mass spectroscopy, which can detect trace amounts of chemicals in a sample. (A dog's nose can reportedly discriminate at the parts-per-trillion level.) They hope to one day build an electronic nose as good as a dog's.

Very reasonable to believe they will invest billions trying to build an electronic nose to replace a trained dog. I can well imagine the users of these devices are going to want a reward much greater than playing fetch with a tennis ball.

I used to have a black Labrador that would sneeze at me every time I picked up a cigarette. Didn't matter if it was lit. He just didn't like me having them. That was some 30 years ago and I'm not dead yet. Still smoke though. He was a great dog. Miss him much. Loved to retrieve things.

IME, dogs do just about everything better than humans.

But I'll bet you're right. It just wouldn't do to have everyone's cancer detected in the early stages. That would take a big bite out of the medical profit in this country.

I am in the process of training my second detection dog. Dogs have an incredible nose. I am working with a Corgi that is one year old. Scent Discrimination has been taught for years. It just seems that the dogs with the most acute senses are the worst suited for Clinical work.

My question is this. We have proved some cancers have detectable smells. We now have a roadside sniffer that can detect a PPM of any substance that we can program it to recognize. Why have we not programmed it to sniff out stage one cancers? Is this technology being developed anywhere?

crime.about.com...

I guess there is a lot more profit in contraband. Seems kind of sad, we have had this sniffer for years. The only way the PTB can think of a to use it for....Is to make them money while violating our rights.

Also on Sky News:

news.sky.com... 5920224?f=rss

The animal's ability to detect cancer from breath was 95% accurate overall, and 98% accurate from stools.

The current NHS screening programme uses a faecal occult blood test, which detects minute amounts of blood in stools - a sign of bowel cancer.

But researchers behind the latest study say this only picks up one in 10 cases of early stage bowel cancer.

If cancer could be detected early, the recovery rate could be higher

I can't help it that I am not totally convinced the AMA or ACS has our health as their primary concern. Medicine is big business and anything seen as a threat to one dollar of profits is not going to be allowed to see the light of day unless they can find a way to turn a profit from it.

I get from the stories here that they are delighted with these dogs' ability to sniff out cancers better than any machine they have thus far developed, but it seems thousands are going to die or go undiagnosed while these medical researchers spend millions if not billions trying to improve current technology. The rest of us can just go to the dogs.

i read recently that a dogs sense of smell is like 500 times better than ours...

makes me wonder how bad does a fart smell to them???

or if you spray carpet spray, incense, fabric refresher,,,,, is it way overpowering for them,,, nauseating???

Originally posted by shortywarn
makes me wonder how bad does a fart smell to them???

Judging by what my dogs roll in if given a chance, I'd say that while dogs' noses are much more sensitive, their idea of what smells 'bad' and 'good' are TOTALLY different than ours.

or if you spray carpet spray, incense, fabric refresher,,,,, is it way overpowering for them,,, nauseating???

Yes. Many dogs are sensitive to the chemicals in household cleaners, especially. I use vinegar to clean.

Those pot bellied pigs got a mean sniffer too. We used to have one few years back till the city passed an ordinance the bastages.

I always wonder whether it is the sense of smell they use, or their ESP 'sixth sense' that they have.

Whether they can just sense if someone is dying or something is wrong.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
IME, dogs do just about everything better than humans.

But I'll bet you're right. It just wouldn't do to have everyone's cancer detected in the early stages. That would take a big bite out of the medical profit in this country.

Exactly, and like many alot of us on this board know of dog stories that science cannot explain.

Been following this for years now, and it's good to see it garnering attention again. Dogs are amazing in so many ways. They know when you're down or feeling sick and try to help. (The downside of this is every time one of mine sniffs my leg or face, I jump! )

Thanks for posting this great story.