A breakthrough study has shown that specially trained dogs can detect the scent of Parkinson’s disease on human skin with remarkable accuracy. The research, conducted in collaboration with Medical Detection Dogs and scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Manchester, has opened up new possibilities for non-invasive screening.
The study involved training two retriever-type dogs to recognize a specific odor that clings to sebum, which changes when Parkinson’s disease is present. In a double-blind trial, the dogs showed sensitivity of up to 80% and specificity of up to 98%, detecting the scent with remarkable accuracy even in swabs from people with multiple health conditions.
The findings are significant because they could lead to faster, cheaper, and non-invasive screening for Parkinson’s disease, which currently lacks an early diagnostic test. The study’s results also suggest that dogs can detect other neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and migraines, using their keen sense of smell.
Researchers believe that the discovery of a unique olfactory signature in patients with Parkinson’s could lead to the development of low-cost sensor chips embedded with these molecules, allowing for quick and painless testing. The study’s findings are published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease and offer hope for accelerating the quest for a rapid and accurate diagnostic test.
Source: https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-can-detect-neurological-diseases-like-parkinsons-years-before-symptoms-appear