We had a really fascinating talk last Wednesday, 23rd May 2018, from Matthew Kefford, who works for the charity ‘Medical Detection Dogs’.

This charity has been established since 2008 and is based at Great Horwood (Milton Keynes).   It is run entirely by volunteers and receives no funding from government, in spite of preventing many costly paramedic call outs and hospital admissions.

There are two main types of dog:

1.   Medical Alert Assistance Dogs who support people with complex health conditions, primarily Type 1 diabetes, but also conditions such as nut allergies, seizures.

The dogs use their amazing sense of smell to detect minute odour changes emitted prior to an emergency episode and alert the person to take their medication before they collapse.

This can transform patients’ lives, enabling them to feel more confident and independent.

2.   Bio Detection Dogs are trained to detect minute odours associated with many cancers and other diseases at a very early stage.    These dogs screen research samples from patients at the centre – they never ‘indicate’ on a person.  It is hoped these dogs could help scientists and medics develop faster, cheaper, non-invasive methods of diagnosis.

We were all astounded at the amazing work these dogs do.   If you would like to know more or are interested in helping support the work of this charity, they can be contacted as follows.

http://www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk

Tel:  01296 655888

You have been sent this post as you are currently ‘following’ the website of Market Harborough WI.    If you no longer wish to do so, please click on ‘Unsubscribe’ at the bottom of this message.