Medical Detection Dogs: The links between health conditions which deteriorate suddenly and one amazing charity

This charity’s extraordinary dogs use their noses to detect disease and provide a safety net for people who live with episodes of sudden health deterioration - Type One Diabetes, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Addison’s Disease, Severe Nut Allergies, Chronic Pain, Narcolepsy and other Endocrine disorders. 

Dogs are the best bio-sensors known to man. Understanding the incredible nature of a dog’s nose, which can detect one teaspoon of sugar in the amount of water needed to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools, has led to a remarkable number of research projects. 

The Medical Detection Dogs

Dr Claire Guest, a trained psychologist, founded MDD in 2008 – the year I developed breast cancer. Just one year later, Claire too was diagnosed with the same cancer. It was her late dog, Daisy, who had nudged and worried at Claire’s chest continuously, until Claire paid a visit to her GP and Daisy’s diagnosis was confirmed. 

Claire had previously witnessed a dog alerting its owner to the woman’s skin cancer and, reading more stories of other dogs behaving in this way, she realised that this must mean that diseases have their own odours which dogs can detect. Having met Dr John Church - who held the same belief – they set up MDD to explore the science. Claire did not expect to be the case that proved the scientific point.

Cancer Detection

The quicker a diagnosis can be made, the quicker treatment can start, leading to a much better outcome. The dogs’ work has proved that they can detect disease earlier than any human test.

Beginning with the successful detection of breast cancer from breath samples and bladder cancer from urine samples, the team progressed to prostate and colorectal cancers – both difficult to diagnose early. 

The dogs have proved that they can detect the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer from urine samples and this will be translated to an electronic device with the collaboration of a quantum physicist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of El Paso.

This year, the MDD has begun a study in partnership with Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, with the proposition that urine can be used instead of faecal samples for the dogs to detect colorectal cancer. This will lead to an accurate, rapid and non-invasive test for early diagnosis of this cancer which is, all too often, undetected until too late.

Urinary Tract Infections, Parkinson’s Disease, Malaria and Pseudomonas

Early diagnosis of a Urinary Tract Infection is imperative, particularly amongst the elderly. Using the information gained from the Dogs who were trained to sniff COVID 19, the UTI Pilot project - in conjunction with Imperial College London – will see a team of Community Medical Detection Dogs formed. Care Homes are the most obvious target. This will be of enormous help to people who live with Charles Bonnet Syndrome, because any fever – and a UTI is so common - will cause an exacerbation of visual hallucinations.

The dogs have also proved that they can detect Parkinson’s Disease. Now the challenge is to see how long in advance of the onset of this condition can the odour be identified by the dogs.

Using the socks of 400 children to train four dogs in Gambia to detect the odour of malaria has been successful, which means that – eventually – the dogs could be used as Port of Entry

Detection dogs for the UK

Working with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Imperial College and the Royal Brompton Hospital, MDD has proved that the dogs are able to detect ultra-low concentrations of pseudomonas (Pa). Pa is the most common form of lung disease found in people who live with cystic fibrosis and can be fatal.

Another use of the dogs’ noses

Claire realised that if these dogs can detect disease by sniffing, they could also be used as Medical Assistance and Alert Dogs, alerting their owners when a medical intervention is required.

There are many adults and children living with one of the diseases or conditions where a medical intervention can prevent a hospital visit, or worse. It is not always possible for the person to detect when the intervention is needed – but the dogs can do this.

The dog lives with the person and are trained to detect the change in the odour of their owner’s skin, which heralds the need for this medical intervention. For instance, with children who have Type 1 diabetes, the dog will sleep by the bed and alert the parents only if medication is required – thus giving much-needed rest to families who, otherwise, check the child regularly through the night.

I have witnessed these dogs in action and it is utterly amazing to watch a person living with diabetes being alerted to a hypo or hyper blood change.

Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS)

This condition causes vivid, silent, visual hallucinations after sight loss. The images appear randomly - some being beautiful and benign but others, disturbing and distressing.

When I heard about two guide dogs who were warning their owners before their CBS hallucinations began – the dogs were putting their heads on their owners’ laps and staying there until the hallucinations had disappeared – I contacted Dr Guest. Having explained CBS to her, I asked if she thought this was possible. Her answer was a definite ‘yes’ and her explanation was a chemical change in the body – as before an epileptic seizure - which the dogs are detecting.

So – at this moment, an amazing little dog called Eliza, is doing a piece of research to see at what point before the hallucination occurs, does the odour of the body change. This study will tie in extremely well with the research at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Centre for Neurosciences, whose lead is Professor Holly Bridge. She believes, too, that there is a chemical change in the body before CBS kicks in.

Early warning system

CBS is caused when one of the myriad eye diseases remove vision, but it can also be caused from diabetes – diabetic retinopathy, or multiple sclerosis – optic neuritis. A brain injury, an accident, cancer or a stroke can compromise the optic nerve and also cause sight loss, followed by Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

If the dogs can help to create an ‘early-warning’ system for people living with CBS, it will go a long way to improving quality of life. 

We hope that more guide dogs could also be trained to emulate the two who are self-trained. With a warning of an oncoming hallucination, the person has a chance to sit safely, try to relax and enjoy the comfort of the dog until the hallucination dissipates. For those whose visual hallucinations are terrifying, this will be of untold benefit.

Success

There is no doubt that Dr Claire Guest and her team have convinced the many sceptics that the Medical Detection Dogs - using their incredible noses – are saving lives and proving that dogs have been underestimated for far too long.