Tag Archive for: dogs

The Dog Will See You Now

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The Memo title is from Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about canine screening of disease, and I would urge you to listen to it. While the focus is on prostate cancer, the logical question comes up: could dogs be used to screen people for COVID-19? The answer is yes. No one knows for certain whether they can they smell the virus, but they can smell the proteins that are being made when the virus replicates in the body. Maybe it’s the spike protein, maybe a different one, but the tests indicate dogs can smell a person’s mask and identify COVID infections immediately with an accuracy of 83% and higher; some dogs approached 99% accuracy.

Will we see dogs checking folks at the door any time soon? I doubt it, whether for COVID testing or any other type of disease. Why not? Let’s take a look.

The Problem with Dogs

Science has shown that dogs can detect odors down to 1.5 molecules per trillion. They don’t even have to be purebred dogs; mixed breeds can be taught to do it. Therein lies the problem: training. It takes time to train the dogs to be able to distinguish that one unique scent among the hundreds of thousands they may encounter in an airport, a school, or a place of business.

They also get tired, not physically but mentally. They’re still dogs that want to run, jump, and play. They love to work, but they’re not like an inanimate testing device that accepts samples and tests them all day long without needing to be fed and given bathroom breaks. Dogs get fatigued, and that means they could make mistakes.

Those are just details that can be worked out. Dogs can screen up to 250 people in an hour at an estimated cost (including their handlers) of about $2 per person. Compare that with a PCR test for COVID-19 that can cost $200 per person. The real problem lies with humans.

The Healthcare Complex

It would be easy to criticize the medical community for not wanting to endorse this unconventional approach to medicine. The papers I read thought it was impractical to train dogs to do such screenings.

What they would rather do is develop an artificial neural nose that could do the job instead. One big problem with that: they have no clue what the dogs actually detect when they perform the screening. They admit that “clinical diagnostic techniques, artificial intelligence, and molecular analysis remain difficult due to the significant divide between these disciplines.” It could take years to come up with such an artificial nose, and then you’d need humans to manufacture, operate, and maintain those devices; I don’t even want to think what the costs would be. Dogs are already being trained that can be ready in a couple of months.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to why the healthcare complex is resistant to pursuing the canine screening solutions. But I suspect health insurance companies and other organizations such as school districts that actually pay the bills will pay a lot of attention to the difference in price as well as the timeline.

The Bottom Line

If I could train a dog to identify a vitamin or mineral deficiency by sniffing the breath, the urine, or feces of humans, I wouldn’t waste time—I’d do it right now. It’s not a threat to what I do; it would be a powerful tool to use to help people address their nutritional deficiencies perhaps before they manifest in disease.

Do we want to get kids back in school? I’d love to know a dog was testing Riley and all his classmates, teachers, and staff every day before they walk in the building. Getting the subjects to not play with the testing equipment would probably be the biggest hurdle, but we’ve been teaching Riley to recognize dogs that are working and not to bother them. Yes, we’d need a lot of dogs, but we can get that done if we’re really committed.

Let’s hope the healthcare complex realizes they already have the noses they need to get the job done, and all the bearers of those noses want is to play with a ball as a reward for their hard work. I’ll say it again: it’s time to let the dogs out.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. J Travel Med. 2020 Dec 23;27(8):taaa131. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa131.
2. PLoS One. 2021.16(2):e0245530. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.02455

Diagnosing Disease: The Canine Frontier

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Malcolm Gladwell, one of my favorite authors, recently did a show on his podcast “Revisionist History” concerning the use of dogs in screening for prostate cancer. You probably recognize his name from his many books including “The Tipping Point”; if you haven’t tried his podcast, I recommend it.

If there’s one thing that keeps men from getting their prostate examined, it would be the invasive nature of the prostate exam known as the digital rectal exam. This refers to the old meaning of digital: performed with a finger. If any problems are suspected, the typical follow-up procedures include the protein specific antigen test (PSA) and prostate biopsy. I know first-hand how uncomfortable these exams can be, and I understand why men would put it off whenever possible, even to the detriment of their health. But what if there were another way? Time to let the dogs out.

No, this new method did not involve dogs doing what they always seem to do, which is to sniff behinds; these dogs were trained to identify prostate cancer in urine samples. Exactly what they’re trained to identify is still a mystery, but most likely it’s a protein. How accurate were they? Over 95%. Anyone that tests positive by canine would then be followed up by a human physician.

Will we be making appointments to see our canine diagnosticians anytime soon? Probably not—even though just about every type of cancer you can think of has been canine-tested and found to be accurate. Are there other conditions that canines can identify? Yes, and I’ll cover that on Saturday.

The Insider Conference call is tomorrow night. I’m going to talk about the COVID vaccine as well as answer Insider questions. Become an Insider before 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and you can join in on the call.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Urologiia. 2019 Dec;(5):22-26.

The Bottom Line on Cats and Dogs and Supplements

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One of my all-time favorite movie lines is by Bill Murray’s character in the original Ghostbusters. He goes on a rant about the coming plague of ghosts and says “…dogs and cats living together…” It’s the delivery more than the words, but it still makes me laugh. I often blurt it out when people talk about all the things that could go wrong if X happens.

I decided to search the literature for specific supplements that can benefit cats and dogs, whether they live together or not. There’s no research on multivitamins-multiminerals per se, although there’s some info on the use of vitamins and minerals as additives to food.

Cats and Supplements

There are two primary areas of research on supplements in cats. The first is the amino acid taurine and the other is joint issues. The lack of taurine in a cat’s diet can result in compromised immune systems, eye problems including blindness, deafness, cardiomyopathy and heart failure, and reproductive issues. Researchers have found that taurine supplementation can increase the taurine level in a cat’s cardiac tissue. One more thing: soy interferes with taurine absorption or utilization, so make sure that the food you feed your cat is soy-free.

The other issue is joint problems such as arthritis. In research on cats, the same blends used in humans that consist of glucosamine, chondroitin, Boswellia, and fish oil help alleviate pain as assessed by owner and veterinarian pain evaluations.

Dogs and Supplements

The big issue with dogs is joint problems such as osteoarthritis. Research shows that the same nutrients recommended for cats and humans are appropriate for dogs: glucosamine, chondroitin, Boswellia, and fish oil. When it comes to amino acids, dogs require 10 essential amino acids to be healthy. While they can get that from vegetarian protein, research shows that dogs can smell it when meals don’t contain all the essential amino acids and will avoid them. That’s some sniffer dogs have!

In the category of interesting research, the amino acid l-arginine together with antioxidants has been shown to benefit dogs with memory issues. Also medium-chain triglycerides are being tested in epileptic dogs to see if the supplement can help reduce seizures. Maybe a teaspoon of coconut oil every day can benefit these dogs—there’s no harm in it while waiting for the research to be completed.

The Bottom Line

We love our cats and dogs and want them to being as healthy as they can be. Targeted supplementation for specific issues is certainly warranted, and it’s probably good to use the same recommendations for us humans and for our best friends: eat better, eat less, and move more. You’ll both be healthier for it!

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Vet Med Sci. 2019 Aug;5(3):325-335. doi: 10.1002/vms3.1822.
2. J Nutr. 1995 Nov;125(11):2831-7. doi: 10.1093/jn/125.11.2831.
3. Am J Vet Res. 1992 Feb;53(2):237-41.

Do Dogs Need Vitamins?

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I recently got a question from a long-time listener who asked if it was okay to give the dog a partial serving of their multivitamin-multimineral. I didn’t have a clue—I don’t deal with supplements and animals, with the exception of glucosamine and fish oil. Both are good for dogs, but what about the rest of the supplements?

One supplement I know they don’t need is vitamin C, because dogs can make their own vitamin C. In fact, only humans and one variety of bat can’t make their own vitamin C; all other mammals can. While too much C can be hazardous, the amounts found in most multis for humans should be fine for dogs. But what about the rest of the vitamins and the minerals?

Wouldn’t you know that the same organization, the National Academy of Sciences, that establishes the Dietary Reference Intake for humans has done the same for dogs. In examining the list, they’re in proportion for what humans would take, but proportional based on body weight. The document also goes through the entire nutrition lifecycle of a dog. If you have a dog or dogs, just download this PDF.

And before you ask, we’ll talk about cats on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: www.nap.edu/resource/10668/dog_nutrition_final_fix.pdf