September 2011 Newsletter

Labradors at work: Medical Detection Dogs
The Science behind Medical Detection
One word to describe your Labrador!
Sarbi the Labrador - her miraculous story!

Labradors at work: Medical Detection Dogs 

Medical Detection Dogs is a charity that trains dogs to save the lives of people living with a life threatening illness. There are two types of Medical Detection Dogs: Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs, and Medical Alert Dogs. 

Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs are trained to detect cancer using their heightened sense of smell. In using dogs to discover the disease in its early stages, the chance of successful treatment is greater and patients do not have to undergo invasive tests.  

The idea of using dogs to identify cancer was developed by Dr John Church after a letter to The Lancet journal in 1989 which described a dog that had apparently detected skin cancer on its owner. On learning of other similar stories, Dr Church and his team carried out a study (published in the British Medical Journal in 2004) which proved that dogs were able to recognise a particular odour connected with cancer. In order for the research to progress, funds were required and in 2007 Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs was set up and became a charity in June 2008. 

Dogs are trained to identify malignant cancer cells (thought to produce unique molecules which give them a recognisable smell). For example these may be detectable in a urine test. Dogs work 2-3 days per week and train on samples from people with or without cancer to learn. The rest of their time is enjoyed as a family pet. 

Medical Alert Dogs are trained to recognise a change of "odour" linked to their owner’s condition. For example in people with diabetes, dogs can identify a different scent that is released from their owner when their blood sugar levels are low compared with when they are normal. By indicating to their owner (e.g. by licking, barking or pawing) when blood sugar levels drop, the owner can then take steps to prevent becoming unwell. Dogs can also be trained to bring medical aid kits to their owner or raise the alarm if their condition deteriorates. 

Medical Alert Dogs are trained in the same way for illnesses such as Addisons disease (a rare disorder of the adrenal glands). The charity is also looking at other conditions (e.g. allergic reactions, pain seizures and narcolepsy) that dogs may be able to detect and in doing so, help to save lives and provide their owners with reassurance and greater independence. 

Dogs and puppies of varying breeds are donated to the charity and are chosen purely on their ability. Currently, the charity has 9 Labradors working as Medical Detection Dogs. For more information on Medical Detection Dogs please visit: http://medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/index.html

Back to top

The Science behind Medical Detection 

It’s all down to their noses! The tissue in a dog’s nose has many more receptors for different smells than humans with estimates suggesting that they have a hundred times more receptors for a given area. Dogs also have about 30% more variety in the different receptors than people. Finally, dogs have nearly 20 times more tissue containing the receptors in their noses to smell than people do. 

It has been estimated that a dog’s sense of smell is approximately a hundred thousand to a million times more sensitive. Fortunately dogs are not overwhelmed by smells which human noses can detect; it is just that they can identify smells when they are at a much lower concentration in the air. As you would expect scent hounds can smell extremely sensitively and Bloodhounds are the most sensitive of all.

This reflects that they were bred to track people, and can smell so well that they can detect trails which are days old. Such is the power of canine scent, that there are research projects which are trying to measure the molecules which Medical Detection Dogs identify, so that laboratory-based diagnostic tests can be based upon them. So next time you open the fridge door without making a sound and wonder how your dog knew it was open, the answer is probably in his nose.

Back to top

One word to describe your Labrador! 

Thank you to everyone who has put their dog forward for Featured Dog. This section allows members to upload a photo, add a description of their dog, and give their reason for joining Dogslife. Entries appear on the Dogslife homepage and there is an archive of previous Featured Dogs which can be viewed at http://www.dogslife.ac.uk/featured/archive. It is great to see photos of some of the dogs that take part in the project, get to know a little bit about them, and find out why taking part in the project is important to our members. 

On nominating dogs for Featured Dog, we ask members to give one word that best describes their dog. The image below shows the most popular choices in larger letters. As you can see, the most popular word our members have chosen to describe their Labrador is Adorable followed by Mischievous, Playful and Cheeky! Can you find a word that best describes your dog?