The long nose of dogs

1992/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

Dogs living with smokers have a natural way to protect themselves from lung cancer, i.e. the nose. Thanks to the long nose of dogs, carcinogenic particles extracted from cigars leak before reaching the lungs. This is what the American Epidemiological Journal says.

Studies conducted in the 1960-1970's showed that cigarette smoke could cause cancer in dogs. John Reif, from the University of Colorado, studied 51 dogs diagnosed with cancer. The goal was to clarify the relationship between the dog and its owner as a smoker.

He concluded that dogs whose owner was a smoker had a higher risk of developing lung cancer. But this statement was not complete. There was a condition, that is, only short-nose dogs developed lung cancer. The possibility of developing cancer was no greater than that of nonsmoking owners.

But, as Reif says, being a long nose may look negative. Although it is still no more than a suspicion, smoker-owner soft dogs may be exposed to airway cancer. Nasal cancer in dogs is more common than lung cancer. At this time, therefore, research goes that way, that is, to demonstrate whether longevity is more dangerous to develop nasal cancer.