BTN News: When we think about finding diseases, we often imagine high-tech machines. These machines are very useful, but they are not the only way to detect illnesses. Surprisingly, some of the best disease detectors may be living in our homes. Pets can often tell when their owners are sick, sometimes even saving their lives.
There are many stories of pet owners finding out about health problems thanks to their pets. Dogs, for instance, have been known to sniff, lick, and even chew on spots on their owners’ skin. Later, these spots turned out to be cancer. But it’s not just dogs; many animals like worms, ants, mice, and even bees have shown they can find diseases in people and samples.
Dogs Are Our Best Friends and Also the Best Doctors
Dogs are the most famous animals for detecting diseases. They can find Parkinson’s disease, bladder cancer, and malaria, among other things. Specially trained dogs can even sense epileptic seizures and low blood sugar in diabetic patients. A dog’s sense of smell is amazing, believed to be 10,000 times better than ours. They can use each nostril separately to smell different things.
Detection dogs learn to link specific smells with rewards like treats or toys. This helps them notice changes in their owner’s scent or behavior that might mean a health issue. When these dogs smell something important, they stay still and wait for their reward. Medical alert dogs will touch or nudge their owners to let them know they need to take action.
Rats Might Be Small But They Are Great at Detecting Diseases
Rats, especially the African giant pouched rat, are great at finding specific smells. These rats have been trained to detect the scent of explosives in landmines in Mozambique. They are also very good at finding tuberculosis in spit samples. Rats are very quick, checking 100 samples in just 20 minutes. They use their sense of smell to find the unique chemical sign of tuberculosis in the samples. Their reward is treats like avocado and banana.
These trained rats are very useful in places where time and money are limited. They have a high success rate, correctly finding tuberculosis cases 81% of the time.
Bees May Be Small Insects but Have a Big Impact on Disease Detection
Bees are very sensitive to low-level smells. They can find signs of diseases like lung cancer, tuberculosis, and COVID-19 in samples. Researchers train bees to respond to certain smells by giving them sugar. This makes the bees extend their tongues, which shows they smell something. Bees become very good at recognizing the smells linked to diseases.
Bees can be a quick, cheap, and useful way to check samples. Their small size might make them even more practical than larger animals.
How Animals Use Their Superior Senses to Detect Diseases
Animals can detect diseases because they can sense small changes in the smells given off by our bodies. Many animals, like dogs, rats, and bees, can notice very tiny changes in the smells we release. Our breath, for example, has about 3,500 different smells. These smells change when we are sick, giving animals clues about our health.
Animals’ detection skills help both humans and other animals. The tiny worm C. elegans can find cancer in human samples and in samples from dogs and cats. These animals’ ability to detect diseases could make them a quick, easy, and cheap way to find health problems. This can also help improve our relationships with animals.
Future of Disease Detection with the Help of Animals
Right now, animals used for finding diseases are just considered “tools” that work with medical tests. But in the future, detection animals might become a main part of finding diseases. For example, dogs were faster and cheaper at finding COVID-19 than regular tests. If we understand more about how animals detect diseases, we could make lab tests even better by using their amazing skills.
Using animals to find diseases is helpful, but we must also take care of these animals. It is important to consider the health and well-being of the animals we use. We need to balance cost, safety, and the health of the animals in any detection program.
In conclusion, our pets and other animals have amazing potential in finding diseases. From dogs and rats to bees, these animals offer a unique way to identify health problems. As science learns more about their skills, the future of finding diseases may be shaped by our furry, feathered, and insect friends.
