Medical Detection Dogs
Rotarian Norma Howell accompanied by Medical Alert Dog Ralph, a beautiful golden Labrador and his human friend, told us about the amazing ability which some dogs have to sniff out medical conditions.
A suitably trained dog can use its sense of smell to detect disease such as diabetes or prostate cancer. This is done under laboratory conditions and can be more accurate than standard tests. However, some dogs can detect diseases before symptoms are obvious merely by being in the presence of the patient.
The Opera Boys
Tuesday evening found us back in the BIC eagerly awaiting the concert by The Opera Boys, four leading men who have performed in London’s West End and on Broadway, New York. They are part of a small elite team with training at London’s Royal Academy of Music. Their sensational, classically trained voices combined in a stunning programme of music ranging from Opera to Pop, and everything in between.
Their superb vocal harmonies delighted us with an entertaining and vocally expert evening of opera favourites such as “Nessun Dorma”, “Nella Fantasia”, “O Sole Mio” and “Funiculi Funicula”, as well as songs from well-known West End Shows – “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miserables” and “Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera”.
Their
rendition of “Con te Partiro”, better known to some as the Andrea Boccelli recording “Time To Say Goodbye”, was particularly well received by the enthusiastic audience.
Their sparkling personalities were a delight as they interacted with the audience and their introductions throughout were laced with humour, even down to making use of President Liz’s stage props, the over-sized deck chairs.
Dogs can also be Medical Alert Dogs like our friend Ralph. He helps his master with his brittle diabetic condition preventing him from suffering a hypoglyceamic attack. Ralph in fact gave us a demonstration of this by suddenly becoming alert and sitting up while he and his master were on stage.
We saw a film about a little boy with brittle diabetes whose family life has changed immeasurably since he got his medical alert spaniel. He not only has a wonderful pet but also his family can relax because the dog will alert them to problems.
The dogs usually start training at 18-24 months. Some are dogs which did not take to training as guide dogs but are suitable as detection dogs. Each disease has its own unique odour fingerprint.
So a sniff can save a life! Fiona Marwick
This was a marvellously entertaining show by four very talented young men, who fulfilled their mission that evening, that of dispelling the myth that opera is boring. Many happy ladies left the Conference Centre with wonderful tunes ringing in their heads and happy memories of a truly wonderful evening.
Ann Fox
www.innerwheel.co.uk
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