Therapy dogs who can sniff out PTSD
Trained canines could help prevent flashbacks
DOGS can be trained to detect post-traumatic flashbacks in humans – by smelling their breath, a study found.
Scientists said the development could help prevent seizures in future.
They explained that dogs’ sensitive noses can detect the early warning signs of potentially dangerous medical problems brought on by a posttraumatic stress disorder.
Golden retriever Ivy and Callie, a German shepherd cross Belgian malinois, were the only two dogs – out of 25 – who were “skilled and motivated enough” to complete the rigorous training.
Experts said the breakthrough will make PTSD assistance dogs more effective. PTSD is a mental health condition that can be triggered by a disturbing event such as a car crash or terror attack.
Nightmares
Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
In the study the “therapy” dogs could alert people to an imminent flashback.
Study author Laura Kiiroja, of Dalhousie University, Canada, said: “PTSD service dogs are already trained to assist people during episodes of distress.
“However, dogs are trained to respond to behavioural and physical cues. Our study showed at least some dogs can also detect these episodes via breath.”
She said assistance dogs can help patients by alerting them and interrupting episodes when their companions are struggling with their symptoms. There is evidence that dogs can detect people’s “scent profile”.
Ivy and Callie were trained to detect odour from pieces of donated facemasks, with 90% accuracy in choosing between a stressed and a non-stressed sample, said the study in the journal Frontiers In Allergy.
The dogs then sniffed samples to detect stress from the organic compounds in breath. Ivy achieved 74% accuracy while Callie achieved 81%.
Ms Kiiroja said the study was a “multi-disciplinary collaboration” between laboratories at the university.
The teams now plan to carry out more tests.