Update: 3/14/09

We Have found funding for the study and will begin with a meeting next week!

 

Dr. Peter Chase Partners with Red Alert

      Dr. H. Peter Chase is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, an emeritus Executive Director, Clinical Director and Pediatric Clinic Director at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. He has published 248 research papers and numerous books and book chapters. Dr. Chase wrote Mark a letter stating that he was aware of the scientific goal of RADD and agrees with Mark that, "As people die each year from diabetic hypoglycemia, I feel the scientific evaluation of the dogs would be a very worth while investigation". Dr Chase also stated that he "would be pleased to take the lead in evaluating the dogs while working with families."

       Dr. Chase expects the study will cost around $30,000 not including costs for families to come to Colorado for the study. We are filling out grant applications and are looking for help to fund this exciting research project that could one day change the lives of every person living with diabetes.If you want to donate to the research project just write Red Alert Research on your check or your on line donation on the donation page. You can also donate online with a note labeled Red Alert Research.

      My brother considers diabetes a 'bloody' disease because of the frequent blood tests to check his blood sugar. My dream is to understand what scent the dogs can smell and one day develop it into a non-invasive breath test. In honor of my brother, I hope that one day he doesn't have to be a human pin cushion any more. 

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Dogs Smelling Cancer

Here's an interesting study about dogs smelling cancer. Click here to visit there web site.

 

 

"Long before it's in the papers"

December 06, 2006

Dogs can detect early lung, breast cancer, study finds

 

Jan. 5, 2006

Courtesy Sage Publications

and World Science staff

 

In a society where lung and breast cancers are leading causes of cancer death worldwide, early detection of the disease is highly desirable. A new study has found that dogs might be able to help detect these cancers early.

 

The study is to appear in the March 2006 issue of the research journal Integrative Cancer Therapies.

 

The scientists said dogs’ extraordinary scenting ability can distinguish people with both early and late stage lung and breast cancers from healthy people. The research, performed in California, was recently documented by the BBC in the United Kingdom, and is soon to be aired in the United States, researchers said.

 

Other studies have documented dogs’ abilities to identify chemicals that are diluted as low as parts per trillion. The clinical implications of canine sniffing first came to light in the case report of a dog alerting its owner to skin cancer by constantly sniffing the skin lesion. Subsequent studies published in medical journals reported trained dogs’ ability to detect both melanomas and bladder cancers.

 

The new study, led by Michael McCulloch of the Pine Street Foundation in San Anselmo, California, and Tadeusz Jezierski of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, is the first to test whether dogs can detect cancers only by sniffing the exhaled breath of cancer patients, the researchers said.

 

Five household dogs were trained within a three-week period to detect lung or breast cancer by sniffing the breath of cancer participants.

 

The trial was comprised of 55 lung cancer and 31 breast cancer patients who had not yet undergone chemotherapy, and 83 healthy patients.

 

The dogs were presented with breath samples from the human participants, captured in a special tube. Dogs were trained to identify a cancer patient by sitting or lying down directly in front of a test station containing a cancer patient sample, while ignoring samples from healthy people.

 

The results showed dogs can detect breast and lung cancer with sensitivity and specificity between 88 percent and 97 percent, the researchers reported. The accuracy persisted even after results were adjusted to take into account whether the lung cancer patients were currently smokers.

 

Moreover, the study also confirmed that the trained dogs could even detect the early stages of both diseases. The researchers concluded that with further work, breath analysis could substantially reduce the uncertainties of cancer diagnosis methods.