The term "man's best friend" is commonly used when it comes to dogs, and it is not hard to understand why. The loyalty of a dog toward its owner is something that cannot be questioned. But in recent years, the tables have turned and humans have become more reliant on dogs than ever before - to help save lives.
According to The Humane Society of the United States, there are around 83.3 million owned dogs in the US alone, showing that America is clearly a nation of dog lovers. But do we underestimate the talent of these amazing creatures and see them purely as pets?
In recent years, organizations all over the world have looked to training dogs to detect medical conditions in humans.
Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on research from UK charity Medical Detection Dogs detailing how dogs have the ability to alert their diabetic owners when their blood sugar levels are too low (hypoglycemic).
Other research has revealed how dogs are able to detect clostridium difficile bacteria - a component that causes many hospital-acquired infections - in feces samples and hospital air.
But how exactly are dogs able to detect human disease?
All in the scent
A dog has around 125 to 300 million scent glands, while a human has around 5 million scent glands. This means a dog's sense of smell is around 1,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than a human's.
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