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Dogs are creatures with an extraordinary sensitivity, especially if we talk about their olfactory ability. It is proven that dogs have 25 times more olfactory receptors than humanstherefore, your ability to smell less noticeable odors is much higher.
However, the idea of a dog being able to smell the presence of diseases or abnormalities present in the body, such as cancer, could be impressive. For this reason, animal scientists have set themselves the task of investigating whether this is a real possibility.
If not, have you ever wondered if, can dogs detect cancer? Keep reading this PeritoAnimal article and find out if it's a myth or it's true.
canine abilities
Studies claim that a dog's brain is controlled, almost completely, by the olfactory cortex, unlike people, where it is controlled by the visual ability or visual cortex. This canine olfactory cortex is 40 times larger than that of a human being. In addition, the olfactory bulb in a dog has hundreds of millions of sensitive and reactive receptors built to perceive odors from long distances and aromas extremely imperceptible to the human nose. As such, it would come as no surprise that dogs have the ability to sniff far beyond what we could even imagine.
All these evolutionary and genetic abilities in dogs are almost considered extrasensory abilities, because not only are we talking about the sense of smell, a more physical topic, but also about the ability to feel and glimpse things that humans are not capable of. This wonderful sensitivity is called "unheard of insight". Dogs can also become aware of other people's pain and depression.
Over the years, several studies and experiments have been carried out, for example, a study published in the medical journal "British Medical Journal" which states that dogs, especially those who are trained to develop these "gifts" have the ability to detect disease in early stages such as cancer, and that its effectiveness reaches 95%. That is, dogs can detect cancer.
Although all dogs have these abilities (because they are found naturally in their physical and emotional DNA) there are certain breeds that, when trained for these purposes, have better results in detecting cancer. Dogs such as the Labrador, German Shepherd, Beagle, Belgian Shepherd Malinois, Golden Retriever or Australian Shepherd, among others.
How does it work?
Dogs detect for themselves the presence of some malignant asset in a person's body. If the person has a localized tumor, through their sense of smell, they can locate the places where the anomaly is found, try to lick it and even bite to remove it. Yes, dogs can detect cancer, especially those that are trained for it.
In addition, through the smell of breath and feces tests, the dog is able to detect the presence of negative traces. Part of the training of dogs that perform this "almost miraculous" job is that when they notice that something is wrong after taking the test, the dog immediately sits down, something that comes as a warning.
Dogs, our canine heroes
Cancer cells release toxic waste that is very different from healthy cells. The difference in smell between them is obvious to the canine's developed sense of smell. The results of scientific analyzes state that there are chemical factors and elements that they are unique to a certain type of cancer, and that they roam the human body to such an extent that a dog can detect them.
It's wonderful what dogs can do. Some experts have concluded that dogs can smell cancer in the intestines, bladder, lung, breast, ovaries, and even skin. Your help is invaluable Because with proper early detection we can prevent these localized cancers from spreading throughout the body.
