by Wendy Mansfield
Most of us agreed we only had a vague idea of the purpose of medical detection dogs.
Norma Howell came along to tell us all about the amazing work these dogs do in the field of medicine. The association received charitable status in 2008 and relies entirely on public donations with no government funding. The founding member of the association was inspired by her own pet who constantly licked a mole on her leg which was discovered to be a melanoma. It appears that cancers give off certain odours which dogs, with their acute sense of smell can detect.
The dogs fall into two categories: the first are bio-detection dogs who only work in laboratories sensing out samples and never coming into contact with the patients. They are trained to pick out a specific disease or symptom. The second group are trained to become Medical Alert Assistance dogs. They work with an owner to provide constant assistance with their illness or disability. They are trained to alert the patient or patient’s carer, fetch help and even fetch medical supplies if needed.
We saw two short videos of dogs in action, one with a young woman, Claire, with type1 diabetes who was constantly slipping into hypo events which necessitated being hospitalised. Her dog, Magic, slept at her bedside and was able to detect a change in Claire’s condition and wake her up enabling her to self medicate. The second was a young boy also with diabetes whose parents had to be constantly checking blood samples almost hourly. His pet was able to alert the family to any subtle changes in his condition and so prevent the need for constant blood testing.
Norma explained that it costs £29,000 to train a Medical Alert Assistance dog and 18 months to 2 years to train them. It costs £11,500 to train a bio-detection dog and takes 4 – 6 months. It then costs £600 a month to support each dog. They are able to detect such illnesses as cystic fibrosis, prostate cancer, Parkinson’s Disease and malaria. The association is currently conducting research into Addison’s disease, POTS, severe allergies and pain seizures. All this research is saving the NHS thousands of pounds per year and so fund raising is crucial to maintain the work of the association. Norma herself became a speaker and champion for the association in order to help boost their fund raising.