Can dogs help detect sickness?
A dog’s sense of smell is much more developed than that of a human and one charitable company over in England is using the well-honed skill to recognize certain human sicknesses such as diabetes and cancer. This article from National Geographic tells the story of Paul Jackson and his dog Tinker. Paul suffers from diabetes and he noticed that whenever he would be about to have a hypoglycemic attack Tinker would show signs of distress– she would cry, lick his face or even bark. These reactions made Paul take Tinker to Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs, an organization that trains animals to recognize scents for diabetes and cancer patients. The organization has recognized that a dog will often react differently if a person’s body scent changes during a hypoglycemic attack. If trained properly, a dog can alert a person if they have dangerously low blood sugar and may even fetch his or her insulin kit. As for cancer detection, dog’s can smell the disease in a person’s urine which could help d
