Page 128 - K9 News Digital - Issue 11 May2020

Imagine if a dog could detect an is their sense of smell that they continued efforts to advance their
illness well before we had any can detect traces of these odours ground-breaking research.
idea there was a problem and as minute as the equivalent of a The charity’s work is firmly rooted in
reduce the need for intrusive, teaspoon of sugar in two Olympic- the science of dogs’ ability to smell
unpleasant and expensive sized swimming pools. and this growing understanding
diagnostic tests. Medical Detection Dogs was is harnessed in its two areas of
Well for over 10 years, Medical founded in 2008 by Dr Claire operation: Bio Detection Dogs and
Detection Dogs, a world-leading, Guest and Dr John Church. Medical Alert Assistance Dogs.
innovative charity, has been Claire’s experience of training Bio Detection Dogs are trained
training dogs to do just that; to dogs for many years, anecdotal to detect even the tiniest smells
save lives using their amazing stories of dogs’ abilities to detect associated with different types of
sense of smell. when their owners were unwell, as cancers and many other diseases
Around thirty percent of a dog’s well as a chance encounter with including Parkinson’s disease,
brain is dedicated to analysing John, convinced her that this was malaria and bacterial infections.
odour, it’s their strongest sense an area worthy of further research. This pioneering work has the
and as us dog-lovers know, our Not long after the charity started potential to contribute towards the
own dogs often recognise us by work, in a remarkable case of life development of faster, cheaper,
our smell, ahead of sight or sound. imitating art, her own dog, Daisy, non-invasive methods of diagnosis
Medical Detection Dogs has detected a very deep seated breast that could help medics and impact
proven over its years of research cancer in Claire. Her doctors said upon thousands of lives.
that due to this unique ability this would almost certainly have For example, there is currently no
dogs can detect minor changes gone undetected until such time definitive test for Parkinson’s and
in odours caused by diseases as her prognosis would have when it is diagnosed the condition
such as different types of cancer, been poor and without Daisy she is often too advanced for treatment
Parkinson’s and malaria. So strong may well not have survived. Sadly
Daisy, who to be effective in slowing it down.
was awarded And for prostate cancer, the tests
the Blue Cross can be extremely intrusive and
medal for her unpleasant and could often be
contribution to avoided with earlier diagnosis.
this pioneering Working in collaboration with NHS
work, passed Trusts and oncologists, other
away in 2018 scientists, universities, both in
but her memory the UK and internationally, MDD
lives on as is continuing studies into a range
the inspiration of diseases and has published
for Medical several scientific papers about its
Asher in training Detection Dogs’ work.

128 - K9 NEWS DIGITAL