Superbugs

Diabetes

Cancer

Disease-causing bacteria are getting better and better at protecting themselves against our strongest antibiotics. One superbug in particular, Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a major problem for hospitals , where people are often already receiving a hefty dose of antibiotics. Catching C. diff early is a huge deal, because it can quickly become very serious and potentially life-threatening if left untreated.That's where the dogs come in. The idea of using dogs to detect C. diff seems to have appeared first in the somewhat jokey (but still scientific) Christmas edition of the BMJ in 2012 . This study followed the tireless work of Cliff, a 2-year-old beagle who has since retired from the job. But as of this week, there's a new addition to these ranks: A 2-year-old English springer spaniel named Angus who now works in Vancouver General Hospital In the case of diabetes, dogs aren't detecting whether or not someone has the disease, but rather when it's about to take a bad turn. In a study published last month in Diabetes Care, researchers learned that right before a sudden drop in blood sugar, diabetics exhale a chemical called isoprene.It's not clear from this research why they exhale higher amounts of that chemical in particular, which is also normally found in our breath in smaller amounts. But this does suggest a method by which pups — such as Shirley , a labrador in England — can literally smell a hypoglycemic attack before it happens.Dogs appear to have a knack for detecting several types of cancer, including lung kidney, and prostate . A U.K. organization, Medical Detection Dogs, is currently investigating dogs' ability to sniff out breast cancer. The way dogs detect these cancers is still up for scientific debate, but the current thinking is that the development of malignant tumors causes the body to release smellable compounds in urine or breath.Of course, most of this research is still anecdotal and (unfortunately) inconclusive. That means dogs — or technology based on their incredible abilities — aren't going to become primary diagnostic tools anytime soon. But it's clear that they can be still be useful in certain settings, even if it's just by making us feel a little bit better about the world knowing these cuties are out there.