[ SHOWGSD-L ] diabetic friends
- From: MORGAN LEWIS <shadowland22000@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: whiteshepherdgenetics@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, gsd911@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, gsd showlist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2008 19:29:21 -0800 (PST)
a Diabetic's Best Friend By Maryann Mott
HealthDay Reporter Sun Feb 3, 5:02 PM ET
SUNDAY, Feb. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Irish researchers hope to prove that a
dog's keen sense of smell gives it the ability to watch over the blood sugar
levels of diabetics.
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Canines have already shown themselves capable of leading the blind, alerting
the deaf, and helping the physically disabled with daily tasks.
But researchers at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, are
taking the "helpful companion" idea one step further by gathering scientific
evidence that could verify dogs can reliably detect dangerous blood sugar level
drops in diabetics.
"Anecdotal reports suggest that some dogs can perform early warning of
hypoglycemia by using their sense of smell to 'sniff out' if their owner's
blood sugar levels are dropping," said lead researcher and psychology professor
Deborah Wells.
More than 20 million U.S. children and adults have diabetes, according to the
American Diabetes Association. Those with the disease do not produce enough
insulin, a hormone the body needs to convert sugars, starches and other food
into energy.
Diabetics must test their blood glucose level regularly, even sometimes in
the middle of the night to avoid the peaks and valleys that can cause organ
failure, say experts.
Wells hopes to find out what cues dogs pick up on so they can officially be
recognized and trained as early-warning systems for diabetics.
At least two organizations in the United States already train dogs to detect
low glucose levels. But exactly what the canines notice when a person
experiences a blood sugar low is still a mystery, said Mark Ruefenacht, founder
of Dogs for Diabetics, in Concord, Calif.
The organization is working with a forensic laboratory to identify a possible
odor.
"We just haven't come up with the right answers," he said. "Every time we
think we have the answer, we find that we don't."
Ruefenacht, a diabetic, started the organization three years ago, inspired
after a puppy he was raising for Guide Dogs for the Blind woke him one night.
Ruefenacht forgot to check his blood sugar before going to sleep, and he thinks
he had a seizure that alarmed the pup.
Since then, the all-volunteer group has placed 30 trained canines in the
homes of Northern California residents with type 1 diabetes.
Demand for the dogs is high; more than 100 people are on the waiting list.
Dogs for Diabetics uses Labrador retrievers that don't graduate from guide
dog school. These dogs usually flunk for reasons such as refusing to walk in
the rain or step onto an escalator -- all skills important for being a working
dog, but not a general assistance one.
Ruefenacht said his dogs undergo three to four months of training similar to
what is used to prepare dog to detect narcotics or explosives. The 2-year-old
canines are first taught to detect scent samples of low blood sugar. Then they
learn to find that scent on people, and alert others by holding in their mouth
a soft tube that hangs from around their neck.
Dogs that successfully complete training are 90 percent accurate, Ruefenacht
said.
These clever canines aren't the only ones that must learn new tricks.
Mary Simon has battled diabetes for more than three decades, and she now
drives four hours each week from her home in Fresno to attend the required
class.
"I need this dog desperately," said Simon, a diabetic who is also medical
director for the Diabetic Youth Foundation in Concord, Calif.
Medication she takes hampers her ability to feel nighttime lows, she said,
and the special glucose sensor she wears doesn't always work.
When Simon first learned of the hypoglycemic detection dogs a few years ago,
she didn't think their talent was needed because glucose sensors were about to
hit the market. Since then, she's changed her mind.
"My own personal experience is we need [the dogs] right now," she said.
Not everyone is so quick to put their trust in the canines' ability.
Larry Myers, a veterinarian and professor at Auburn University in Alabama,
has trained dogs to detect everything from drugs to agricultural pests for 25
years. He said the jury is still out on whether dogs can truly detect low blood
sugar levels, but he believes it's a possibility worth exploring.
Even though dogs have amazing olfactory abilities, he said they are not
universally sensitive to all chemicals.
"Do hypoglycemic individuals, in fact, emit an odor that is characteristic? I
don't know, and I don't think anybody does know right now," he said.
A possibility other than scent is the dogs are picking up on visual cues,
which is thought to be the case with seizure detection dogs. Such dogs
allegedly can pick up on extremely subtle physiological changes in their human
companion that may begin five to 45 minutes before an actual attack. The dogs
then warn the humans so they can find a safe environment or take precautionary
measures.
"It turns out what the dogs are really sensitive to is subtle changes in
behavior of the individuals just prior to seizing," Myers said. "It's more of a
fact that dogs are very, very, very observant of human behavior."
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