Dogs can be trained to identify individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) by sniffing out a disease-specific odor in skin swabs with up to 98% specificity and 80% sensitivity, a recent study suggested.
The findings may help inform key biomarkers for PD before symptoms appear. There is currently no single diagnostic test for PD, and reported estimates show roughly a quarter of patients are misdiagnosed.
“Sensitivity levels of 70% and 80% are well above chance, and I believe that dogs could help us to develop a quick noninvasive, and cost-effective method to identify patients with Parkinson’s disease,” lead investigator Nicola Rooney, associate professor at Bristol Veterinary School at the University of Bristol, Bristol, England, said in a news release.
The study was published online on July 14 in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.
The Nose Knows
Previous studies have shown that dogs can detect disease-specific odors in human breath or urine in patients with cancer, diabetes, and even posttraumatic stress disorder. This study adds to the growing evidence they can also identify PD.
Seborrheic dermatitis and increased sebum production are premotor signs of PD. Previous research publishedlast year by a nonprofit Parkinson’s organization based in Washington showed that various breeds of dogs can be trained to recognize sebum unique to PD patients.
