How Dogs Are Helping To Beat Cancer

Having a family dog is often seen as a ritual, a rite of passage, allowing children to learn responsibility and the joy of caring for an animal. It’s simple for most people to do. You can get a pedigree puppy or visit the adoption centre and find a dog in need of a family.

Regardless of which option you choose, all you need is a collar, lead, food and water bowls, and a great dog box, such as those provided by Ferrantinet.com. Of course, you’ll also need some free time to train and play with the dog.

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They make great companions but they can also alert you to illness!

A Dog’s Nose

You may already know that a dog’s eyesight isn’t great. They see everything in shades of grey and generally react to movement. But, perhaps to compensate for this, dogs have amazing noses. To help put it into context, the average human has 5 million scent receptors. A dog has 220 million scent receptors.

They can’t just smell things before you can, they can also smell things you’ll never be able to.

Scent Receptors & Body Changes

Your body is made up of a huge array of chemicals, each working together to keep things running smoothly. This mixture creates a distinctive smell, often referred to as pheromones. When the mixture is off, the associated smell changes. Your dog can detect these changes and knows there is something wrong with you.

That’s why dogs tend to stay close to you when you’re not feeling well. They know and are trying to comfort you.

But, with a little training, dogs can be taught to use their scent receptors to identify specific diseases.

Cancer

With a little training, a dog can detect the cell changes in the body that are linked to cancer. The dog is likely to start focusing on one specific part of your body. It’s their way of telling you about your health issue, often before you know about it.

It helps to appreciate that a dog can detect a drop of blood in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Narcolepsy

This is a health disorder that affects millions of people and can be extremely dangerous as you can fall asleep in the middle of any activity. Dogs can detect the change in your pheromones and breathing and be trained to wake you up, preventing you from being harmed.

Diabetes

Diabetes is becoming increasingly common but it’s been discovered that a dog can detect the changes in your blood sugar level. They know one specific chemical, isoprene, is rising rapidly as your blood sugar drops. This allows them to warn you before your blood sugar becomes too low and you become confused, comatose, or even die.

Stress

Stress is one of the biggest killers as it prevents your body from working normally and increases the risk of an array of issues, including cardiovascular problems and even mental health issues.

Fortunately, your dog can sense your stress hormone levels rising and help to keep you calm. There is nothing more relaxing than brushing your dog!

David Prior

David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.