CanineDetectives-Unleashing Hope in Health

In America, there’s been news about dogs being employed to detect certain types of cancer and diseases, including COVID. Recently, Parkinson’s disease has also entered this arena. Parkinson’s is a severe condition that affects the body’s nervous system. Scientists have found that there are hundreds of related chemicals in the sebum fluids secreted from the skin before the disease manifests. However, precise methods to isolate these chemicals in the lab haven’t been developed yet. That’s why scientists are turning to dogs. Their sense of smell is millions of times more acute than ours, making them invaluable in this endeavor. An organization called “Paws for Parkinson’s” in Washington has carefully selected 16 pet dogs from 23 different breeds for this task. After an eight-month training program in France, these dogs were able to recognize Parkinson’s patients with an impressive 86% accuracy when presented with clothes worn by both patients and non-patients. Trainers are optimistic that with an additional four months of training, these dogs will be able to detect the disease’s early stages.