Queen’s University study: Dogs’ sense of smell can help to save lives for people with epilepsy

Researchers said that seizures are associated with a specific smell which is detectable by pet dogs.

The Queen’s study analysed the reaction of dogs to odours and found that the dogs could predict when a seizure was imminent. Lead researcher Dr Neil Powell, from the School of Biological Sciences, said: “We hypothesized that, given the extraordinary sense of smell of dogs, a volatile organic compound exhaled by the dog’s epileptic owner may provide an early warning trigger mechanism to which make dogs react before the seizure. The results have shown pet dogs to be a reliable source to detect an on-set seizure.”

Epilepsy is a potentially life-threatening neurological condition which affects approximately 65 million people worldwide, of whom 30% are unable to control their seizures by medication.

There have been anecdotal accounts of pet dogs predicting their owner’s epileptic seizures by becoming attentive and by demonstrating attention-seeking behaviours, but to date no scientific study has investigated the veracity of these claims.

At 71, Neil started a PhD at Queen’s in 2015. Having worked and trained with dogs for over 45 years, he wanted to further develop his understanding of how dogs can be used to assist people.

Using 19 pet dogs with no experience of epilepsy, researchers exposed them to odours that were deemed to be characteristic of three seizure phases (before, during and after), by using sweat harvested from people with epilepsy.

All 19 demonstrated more affiliative behavioural changes when confronted by seizure-associated odours, compared with their response to control odours.

Neil said that the reliable early warning system offered by dogs to make people with epilepsy aware of an impending seizure has the potential to save lives, reduce injury, provide an opportunity for medical intervention and return a sense of independence to those living with unpredictable seizures.

He added: “Our findings clearly showed that all dogs reacted to the seizure-associated odour whether this was through making eye contact with their owner, touching them, crying or barking. There is a unique volatile smell linked to epileptic seizures, detectable by dogs who can in-turn warn their owner a seizure is likely to occur.

“If we can train dogs, this has the potential to make a big difference to owners who experience unpredictable seizures and should go a long way in improving not only their safety, but also their quality of life.”

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