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“Magic was just over 18 months when I got him and weve been together now for just over two and a half years and in that time hes alerted over 2,500 times,” says Magics owner, type 1 diabetic Claire Pesterfield, in the video. “Which is amazing when you think hes only doing it for a biscuit.” Aww, what a hero. width=”700″ height=”414″ allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen” seamless=”seamless”>
One of the most intriguing abilities dogs possess is the capacity to detect medical conditions, such as certain cancers and dangerously low blood sugar levels in diabetics.
More research is now required to verify the team’s findings because they are still unsure of why the body produces more isoprene as blood sugar levels fall and suspect it may be a byproduct of cholesterol.
The new research suggests theyre smelling a common chemical called isoprene, which is found on our breath.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK examined the breaths of eight type 1 diabetic women using mass spectrometry. To see if there was any alteration in the chemical signatures of the women’s exhalations that dogs might be able to detect, the researchers carefully brought the women’s blood sugar levels to the point of hypoglycemia.
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However, a second study, presented by Los at the recent American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans, revealed that although the dogs do seem to be able to detect low blood sugar, they frequently warned their owners even when they weren’t experiencing it and were typically slower than a CGM to alert to actual low blood sugar.
This tale is included in the supplemental content for NPR’s podcast and television program Invisibilia, which this week tells the tale of a woman who uses a blood-glucose monitoring app to monitor her twin sister’s health from a distance.
Although this study was inspired by diabetes alert dogs, the researchers didn’t test dogs to see how they would respond to the chemical. There’s a good chance that isoprene isn’t the whole picture, says Dr Mark Evans, a lecturer at the University of Cambridge and the study’s principal investigator He told NPR, “All we’ve done is find one signal.” “I believe dogs react to a variety of cues, including [VOCs] as well as subtle behavioral cues.” “.
The possibility of going unconscious from low blood sugar is a constant worry for diabetics who take insulin. Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are devices that can notify wearers when their blood sugar levels are dropping, but not everyone has access to them. And even among those who do, some choose a cuddlier and friendlier alert option: a service dog trained specifically to warn owners when their blood sugar falls dangerously low.
According to Evan Los, a pediatric endocrinologist at Oregon Health & Science University who has studied their use, the effectiveness of diabetes alert dogs to detect hypoglycemia has, however, increased significantly in popularity. Despite the fact that both dog owners and trainers are typically enthusiastic, he says
FAQ
Can my dog tell if my blood sugar is low?
There were reported behavioral changes in untrained dogs during 38–100% of the hypoglycemic episodes that their owners experienced. The performance of trained diabetes alert dogs in detecting hypoglycemia ranged from 22 to 100% to 71 to 90% in terms of sensitivity and specificity, respectively.
How do dogs know a person’s blood sugar?
Diabetes service dogs can detect low blood sugar by smelling it on a person’s breath or coming from their pores. Dogs have such a keen sense of smell that they can pick up on this scent even though we are not able to.