Episode 5

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0:00:02 > 0:00:05- Are you ready for our Ouch Snips? - Snip!- Ouch!- Exactly!

0:00:09 > 0:00:11What do these three dogs have in common?

0:00:11 > 0:00:13Well, they're all medical professionals.

0:00:13 > 0:00:16Meet our medical doggy heroes...

0:00:19 > 0:00:23They're all specially trained to help people with medical conditions.

0:00:23 > 0:00:27First up, it's Daisy who's here to help us with today's experiment.

0:00:27 > 0:00:30Because your breath can reveal a huge amount about you,

0:00:30 > 0:00:32it can be the first sign of many illnesses

0:00:32 > 0:00:35and, like your fingerprints, your breath is unique -

0:00:35 > 0:00:36no-one else has the same breath.

0:00:38 > 0:00:42- Smells like doggy snacks.- No, but I did find some lovely biscuits

0:00:42 > 0:00:44on the floor on the way in.

0:00:44 > 0:00:46- Were they in a bowl?- Yes.

0:00:46 > 0:00:48Did the bowl say "Daisy" on it?

0:00:48 > 0:00:49Yes.

0:00:49 > 0:00:50HE SIGHS

0:00:50 > 0:00:53Everyone has bad breath at some point, even Daisy.

0:00:54 > 0:00:58But even if your breath isn't bad, it still has a smell

0:00:58 > 0:01:01and it's the smell that contains information about you

0:01:01 > 0:01:02and your health.

0:01:02 > 0:01:05In fact, there's a whole range of medical conditions

0:01:05 > 0:01:06that can be detected on your breath.

0:01:06 > 0:01:09And Daisy is a specially trained smell dog.

0:01:11 > 0:01:13Time to see Daisy in action.

0:01:13 > 0:01:16Now, we've laid out three samples of breath here,

0:01:16 > 0:01:20and one of the samples is from a patient with a serious illness.

0:01:20 > 0:01:22Can Daisy find it?

0:01:23 > 0:01:27Daisy's been trained by Claire to identify smelly molecules

0:01:27 > 0:01:29related to different illnesses.

0:01:30 > 0:01:32And she's done it in just six seconds!

0:01:32 > 0:01:34That is incredible.

0:01:34 > 0:01:37There was no debate, she didn't even have to check one of the samples,

0:01:37 > 0:01:40- she knew.- As soon as she smelt that odour, she sits down

0:01:40 > 0:01:41and tells us she's found it.

0:01:41 > 0:01:45But Daisy's not the only dog who puts her incredible nose to

0:01:45 > 0:01:46good use.

0:01:46 > 0:01:49Time for our next doggy hero.

0:01:49 > 0:01:50Meet Shirley.

0:01:50 > 0:01:54Dogs have around 200 million smell receptors,

0:01:54 > 0:01:56whereas humans only have around five million,

0:01:56 > 0:02:00making dogs superior sniffers and also life-savers.

0:02:00 > 0:02:04Shirley's nose has been trained to help Rebecca.

0:02:04 > 0:02:06Rebecca has type 1 diabetes.

0:02:06 > 0:02:10This means that her body doesn't produce a chemical called insulin,

0:02:10 > 0:02:13and amazingly, Shirley's incredible nose

0:02:13 > 0:02:15can sniff out when there are problems.

0:02:16 > 0:02:20Insulin's job is to make sure you have just the right amount of sugar

0:02:20 > 0:02:21in your blood.

0:02:21 > 0:02:24When your body doesn't produce insulin,

0:02:24 > 0:02:26blood sugar gets out of control.

0:02:26 > 0:02:30So if your blood sugar is too high, you inject insulin.

0:02:30 > 0:02:34And if it's too low, you have to eat something sweet.

0:02:34 > 0:02:36Rebecca has to take insulin four times a day,

0:02:36 > 0:02:40but her blood sugar levels can be very unpredictable, making her ill,

0:02:40 > 0:02:42which is where Shirley comes in.

0:02:42 > 0:02:45This is something that humans could never do.

0:02:45 > 0:02:48She's able to detect changes in Rebecca's breath

0:02:48 > 0:02:52as soon as they happen, and usually that's before Rebecca has even

0:02:52 > 0:02:55the slightest idea that anything's wrong.

0:02:55 > 0:02:58And Shirley has a very special way of letting Rebecca know something

0:02:58 > 0:03:00is wrong - by licking her!

0:03:00 > 0:03:03Rebecca's mum then tests her blood and injects more insulin

0:03:03 > 0:03:06or gets help before things get dangerous.

0:03:06 > 0:03:08What would have happened before you had Shirley?

0:03:08 > 0:03:11I would have had the ambulance once or twice a week.

0:03:11 > 0:03:13So since you've had Shirley, how many times have you had

0:03:13 > 0:03:17- an ambulance?- Like, once in three years.

0:03:17 > 0:03:20Now that's what I call a real four-legged hero!

0:03:20 > 0:03:24And we've got one more incredible medical doggy to meet.

0:03:24 > 0:03:28This is Nala. She is a miracle worker at keeping patients calm

0:03:28 > 0:03:30and lowering stress.

0:03:30 > 0:03:34Nala has worked as a pet therapy dog for 15 years and is known

0:03:34 > 0:03:35as Dr Dog.

0:03:35 > 0:03:38- # Snoop doggy dog. # - BARKING

0:03:38 > 0:03:42Animal therapy dogs, like Nala, need to be calm, obedient

0:03:42 > 0:03:43and really intelligent.

0:03:43 > 0:03:46How does it make you feel when you see Nala?

0:03:46 > 0:03:47Happy.

0:03:47 > 0:03:50And, Poppy, how do you feel? Cos you come into hospital a lot

0:03:50 > 0:03:52to see your younger brother.

0:03:52 > 0:03:55Yeah, I think Nala helps you relax.

0:03:55 > 0:03:57Nala, do you feel happy when you see Spike?

0:03:57 > 0:03:58- WOOFING:- Yes!

0:03:58 > 0:04:02There's no doubt that this professional pooch can put a smile

0:04:02 > 0:04:05on your face, but can Nala really have a physical effect

0:04:05 > 0:04:06on a patient's health?

0:04:06 > 0:04:09Let's put Dr Dog to the test!

0:04:09 > 0:04:11To help me, here's Miracle, who's in hospital

0:04:11 > 0:04:13having kidney dialysis treatment.

0:04:13 > 0:04:16So what I want to do is, while you're having your dialysis,

0:04:16 > 0:04:19I want to measure your blood pressure.

0:04:19 > 0:04:21And then we're going to bring in Nala, the dog,

0:04:21 > 0:04:25and we're going to see what happens to your blood pressure.

0:04:25 > 0:04:27A blood pressure test is a simple way to check

0:04:27 > 0:04:29if a patient is stressed.

0:04:29 > 0:04:33At the moment, it's 116 over 67,

0:04:33 > 0:04:35which is in normal range.

0:04:35 > 0:04:38But let's see if Nala can make Miracle even more relaxed.

0:04:38 > 0:04:42And amazingly, after just a few minutes with Nala,

0:04:42 > 0:04:45Miracle's blood pressure has gone down, meaning she's more relaxed

0:04:45 > 0:04:47and less stressed.

0:04:47 > 0:04:50So we've shown you three amazing medical dog heroes,

0:04:50 > 0:04:52doing things that humans just couldn't.

0:04:53 > 0:04:56Well, let's just hope they don't put us out of a job!

0:04:57 > 0:04:59- See you next time!- Bye!- Bye! Bye!

0:04:59 > 0:05:01- Bye!- Bye!