Artist's Point
Quite a while ago.
Also in a recent NY Times was news of another front in the
dogs vs. ovarian cancer war. You
should read it; it is informative, encouraging, and even a bit amusing.
It appears beyond question that some dogs, properly
trained, can detect the presence of some cancers with astounding
accuracy. With regard to ovarian cancer,
one reason for pessimism is the stage at which the dog could sniff out the
offending growth. Can they detect them
at Stage 1, or even sooner? If so,
hooray! But maybe not. Scientists at U. Pennsylvania are using dogs
to isolate the precise chemicals that - to the dog – indicate the presence of
cancer. Then, these same scientists hope
to construct a “mechanical nose” that will, in effect, go the dog one
better. More power to them. However, in the meantime, covering their
bets, so to speak, they are honing the abilities of their canine machines: maybe even breeding good
sniffers. A warm, furry detection device
with a wagging tail would beat a metal gadget, any day.
Another problem that may arise is that the dogs will detect
chemicals that may be common to several different kinds of cancer. This leaves the clinician with a big problem:
where to look?
I blogged previously about dogs and ovarian cancer*.
Ha! Spell (&
grammar) Check doesn’t know that “blogged” is a verb. The language evolves!
More on dogs sniffing cancer. Some mention of ovarian cancer; a dog that can snif fit out won Dog of the Century award, or something like that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.science20.com/news_articles/this_dog_can_detect_thyroid_cancer_by_sniffing_human_urine_samples-153837
And even more on cancer-sniffing dogs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/can-dogs-sniff-cancer-science-is-putting-it-to-the-test/story-e6frg8h6-1227455781838
All of us should have sucg a dog!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6458383/Husky-sniffs-owners-ovarian-cancer-THREE-TIMES-doctor-dismissed-cyst.html
Experiments with cancer-sniffing dogs continue. Seems to me that they have been at it a very long time. Apparently beagles are best.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/article/3832