Mens Journal

Health
&Fitness

“DOGS’ NOSES CAN

BE SENSITIVE TO

THE PRESENCE

OF CANCER — AND

BE SPECIFIC THAT

ITIS CANCER.”

Many of the In
Situ Foundation’s
cancer-detection
dogs were pulled
from pounds
or kill shelters.

ence of dog dander in a home may activate

the immune systems of young children

decreasing the likelihood of eczema asthma

and respiratory allergies that may persist into

adulthood” says Rebecca Johnson director

of the Research Center for Human-Animal

Interaction at the University of Missouri Col-

lege of Veterinary Medicine.

And we haven’t even broached the bene-

f its for the brain and nervous system. “There

are real physiological responses that humans

exhibit in the presence of and interaction

with dogs” says Beck. Chief among them is a

potent neurological response: a suppression

of the stress hormone cortisol and a surge

of endorphins (which decreases feelings of

stress and pain) serotonin (which mitigates

depression) prolactin (which induces feel-

ings of nurture) and most signif icantly

oxytocin (the “love” hormone released dur-

ing social bonding cuddling and orgasm).

Quality time with dogs also lowers blood

pressure and heart rate and fosters a deeper

sense of mindfulness. “Biophilia our con-

nection to nature and other living things

keeps us focused and in the moment which is

healt hier t han dwelling on t he past or dread-

ing the future” Beck says. “And pet owner-

ship is a megadose of nature on demand.”

The most dramatic results of canine

health intervention tend to be seen in mar-

ginalized social segments — seniors the

incarcerated juvenile delinquents domes-

tic violence survivors and war vets. “Dogs

allow people who suffer from dementia

not to feel anxious because dogs don’t care

what you forgot” says veterinarian David

Haworth who helped establish the Human

What makes Zaphiris’ dogs — Stewie
Leo Linus Alf ie and Charlie — so effec-
tive? With 300 million olfactory receptors
in each dog’s nose compared with a human’s
5 million they have the ability to smell
things in parts per trillion (easily sniffing
out for example 1cc of blood diluted in two
Olympic-size swimming pools of water).
“An MRI can show you a lump but not tell
you whether it’s cancerous” Zaphiris says.
“Whatdogs’nosescandothatmachines
cannot is be sensitive to the presence of can-
cer — and be specif ic that itis cancer.”
We’ve long known that man’s loyal com-
panion can offer therapeutic benef its to
trauma victims and soldiers with PTSD.
Now we’re discovering that trained dogs can
work as effective diagnosticians too sniff-
ingoutearly-andlate-termcancersType1
diabetes and malaria. Increasingly research
also f inds that just owning a companion dog
can have positive health benefits. In fact in
the not-so-distant future dogs may change
the way we approach health care.
This appreciation of dogs is fairly new.
Itwasn’tuntilthelate1970sthathuman-
animal interaction began to emerge as a multi-
disciplinary science. Before then evidence of
canine-related health benef its derived from
dogs was merely warm-and-fuzzy anec-
dote. In 1980 Dr. Erika Friedmann now
a researcher at the University of Maryland
School of Nursing published a landmark
study that found one-year survival rates of
heart attack patients were signif icantly higher
forpetownersforaconstellationofreasons
including a calmative effect that lowers blood
pressure increased social support and the

cardiovascular benef its of dog walking. Then

in 1987 the National Institutes of Health

went bolder stating that “pet ownership is a

variable in public health outcomes that like

food and exercise cannot be ignored” says

Dr. Alan Beck director of the Center of the

Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University.

In the three decades since then the advan-

tagesdogscanprovidehavebecomeclearer.

In addition to aiding the blind something ser-

vice dogs have done for decades they can now

be trained to assist people who have mobility

and balance impairments or diff iculty using

their hands and arms by opening doors clos-

ing cabinets and serving as balance supports.

Showing a sensitivity to even the slightest

human behavioral changes trained dogs can

sense when people with diabetes epileptic

seizures and cardiac-related fainting spells

are about to have an episode and warn them.

Companion canines are also used as a calm-

ing agent for migraine sufferers and to help

autism and dementia patients stay focused.

Even one of the least pleasant aspects of

dog ownership — shedding — can positively

impact the human microbiome. “The pres-

MEN’S JOURNAL 56 SEPTEMBER 2016

COURTESY OF IN SITU FOUNDATION