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There are good boys,
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and then there are very good boys
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like these dogs here. They're searching for a scent
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that no human can detect:
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the scent of an epileptic seizure.
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We've long known that dogs can detect seizures in humans
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in some cases 45 minutes before they occur.
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That's one reason why organizations like Handi'chiens
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in France provide service dogs for people with epilepsy.
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And in some cases, this can prove lifesaving.
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It might give people time to take medication
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that could prevent or reduce the severity of a seizure
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or move somewhere safer where an injury
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is less likely to occur.
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Incredible?
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Yes.
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But proven?
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Not until French researchers teamed up with Medical Mutts,
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a US-based organization that trains seizure alert dogs.
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That marker, they believed, was a scent
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that dogs can detect.
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So in 2018, they set up an experiment.
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First, they collected dozen of samples of
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breath and sweat from people with
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different forms of epilepsy.
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Some of them were taken during or right after a seizure,
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while others were collected after exercise or at rest.
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Then they distributed them among seven different
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steel containers in this room.
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Finally, they let out, or, they let in the dogs.
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One by one, Casey, Dodger, Lana, Zoey, and Roo
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walked into the room.
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They were trained to stop and stand still
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if they think they detected the scent of a seizure.
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And if they were right, they got a treat,
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good dog!
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To the researchers' excitement, the canines excelled.
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Three of the dogs, Casey, Dodger, and Zoey,
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sniffed out the odor associated with seizure with
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100% accuracy.
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The two other pups, Lana and Roo, who had less
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time to train, weren't quite as accurate.
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But they still correctly identified two-thirds
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of the seizure samples on their first try.
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What makes these results even more remarkable
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is that the scent samples were from different people
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and also produced by different kinds of seizures.
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And what exactly is that marker made of?
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Here's the thing: We still don't know.
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It's likely that seizures trigger a change in the body's
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electrical activity, the researchers say.
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And those changes can affect the
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composition of odor molecules that
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we emit through our sweat, breath, and, likely, urine.
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Now, whether people emit these odors
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before a seizure in time to reduce its worst effects
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is still in question,
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and it's not something that the researchers tested.
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But some experts claim that people emit a specific
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group of odor chemicals 15 to 45 minutes prior to seizing,
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which dogs can detect.
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So what exactly makes canines such smell superstars?
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It's their incredible noses.
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With as many as 300 million olfactory receptors,
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a dog's nose is up to 100 thousand times
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stronger than our own.
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That means they can detect a few scent molecules
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among trillions of them.
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Scientists are now trying to build electronic noses
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that are just as powerful.
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The idea is that they too
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could be used to sniff out diseases.
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But for now e-noses are nowhere near as good as dogs,
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and in some ways, doesn't that seem like a good thing?