Can dogs sense human illness?

One of the many remarkable traits of a dog is its sense of smell. It has many uses for them as animals, but little did you know that it can benefit you.

We all know that their nose is ideally suited for sniffing, and for many years we have used their sense of smell in many different ways such as hunting, detecting drugs and explosives, and now, illnesses.

If you find it hard to believe, a dog has 220 million scent receptors while a human has only 5 million. It shouldn’t shock you if they can sense the slightest bit of disease or illness your body may be experiencing.

If they can sniff and feel a human’s emotions, they can smell if something is happening to your body. It is because of how sensitive their noses are. 

Training dogs to use their noses

Many studies show that the most common illness a dog can detect is cancer. This is proven because healthcare professionals trained dogs to use their sniffing abilities, and lo and behold, their trained dogs detected breast and lung cancer with a high percentage of accuracy. Their noses are unique, and they can detect if a patient may go into an epileptic seizure. Although many studies show how amazing dogs can be in the healthcare industry, they are still not approved in many hospitals or clinics. This is because most doctors cannot figure out the exact chemical compounds that alert their senses of diseases. Because of the lack of proof, they are not able to help many in need. If there are more finds to develop research regarding this, many researchers may prove how great a dog’s nose is. So far, it is proven that they are very much capable. Here are a few common illnesses your dog can identify. 

There are many more illnesses that dogs can detect; to learn more about it, you can follow veterinary marketing tips and tricks.

Dogs detect illness

Cancer

Dogs are famous for sniffing out and detecting cancer. A few varieties such as breast, lung, bladder, and prostate cancer, to name a few. They can give signals to their owner by obsessing over a body part. If you notice that your dog does this, it is probably best to get checked with a health professional. More often than not, their sniffing abilities may be right. 

Narcolepsy

What is Narcolepsy? It is a disorder that affects the ability to control sleep-wake cycles. Unfortunately, this disorder makes people sleep even in the middle of doing something. This can be dangerous in more ways than one. A person who experiences narcolepsy may put themselves in danger- especially when they are in public. Many dogs have been trained to become service dogs for many of those who suffer from this. 

Migraines

Migraines can hinder someone from doing anything. The pain may be unbearable most of the time, and it would be great if you were alerted by anyone when you are about to experience it. Luckily, dogs can detect it just as it is about to happen.