One recent study illustrates dogs’ incredible capacity to detect Parkinson’s disease. Such a breakthrough would be life-changing for patients, allowing for the earliest possible diagnosis. Nicola Rooney, an associate professor at the University of Bristol Veterinary School in the U.K., conducted a preliminary but pioneering study. It demonstrates that highly trained dogs have an extraordinary ability to introduce specific individuals with a neurodegenerative condition.
Out of the five dogs initially included in the study, three failed to complete the training process. Bumper, a 2-year-old Golden Retriever, and Peanut, a 3-year-old Black Lab, both passed out of their training program. The dogs learned to differentiate between over 200 samples taken from both Parkinson’s patients and healthy individuals, honing their skills to detect specific chemical markers associated with the disease.
During training, the dogs were each shown skin swabs taken from study participants. This approach capitalizes on one of the early signs of Parkinson’s disease: excessive sebum production from the skin’s sebaceous glands. Patients typically present with skin that looks bluish white or “pearly” and waxy or oily because of this excess sebum production. These results indicate that at least some trained dogs are able to detect people with diagnosed Parkinson’s disease, reaching a remarkable accuracy of 80%. Most impressively, they ruled out those who didn’t have the condition with a breathtaking 98% accuracy.
Dr. Claire Guest, the lead researcher on the study. As CEO and chief scientific officer of Medical Detection Dogs, a U.K. charity that trains specially trained dogs to detect disease, she noted the importance of these findings. Scientists have found dogs to be 98% accurate in detecting Parkinson’s disease. Automation can support earlier interventions for all patients and help ensure them a better quality of life.
The study’s results were published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, highlighting the groundbreaking nature of this research within the field. Dogs are still showing their mettle as trusty medical science aides. To that end, this smart and meticulous study lays the groundwork for future research into canine-assisted diagnostics for other health conditions.