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Dogs can Detect Low Blood Sugar Levels With 90 Percent Accuracy
February 04, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Diabetes News
This suggestion comes from researchers at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who are looking for evidence to verify whether 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," Live Science quoted lead researcher and psychology professor Deborah Wells as saying.
Diabetics have to test their blood glucose levels on a regular basis to avoid the peaks and valleys that can result in organ failure.
Some organisations in the US train dogs to detect low glucose levels. Mark Ruefenacht, the founder of Dogs for Diabetics in Concord, California, says that dogs that successfully complete training can detect low glucose levels with 90 per cent accuracy.
However, it is still unclear what the canines notice when a person experiences a blood sugar low is still a mystery, Ruefenacht admits.
"We just haven't come up with the right answers. Every time we think we have the answer, we find that we don't," he said.
Larry Myers, a veterinarian and professor at Auburn University in Alabama, says that scientists are still investigating whether dogs can truly detect low blood sugar levels. He, however, agrees that it is a possibility worth exploring.
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Photogrl(Guest)
11/30/2008
My Jack Russell alerts my husband when I'm low while I'm sleeping. We adopted him from the Humane Society and he has alerted my husband three times..the latest was this morning...I went low while sleeping and Moe was with me in bed for a few hours, he then started to bark, my husband came in Moe was face to face with me..he looked at my husband and then at me and barked again...my husband got me glucose gel and my hero got a treat(the dog not the husband) he got a kiss. I can tell when my blood sugar gets low when I'm awake. He is very protective of me, he barks at my husband when he playfully spanks me, but when I "hit" my husband, Moe pays no attention to him. He's a great dog, we lucked out when we got him.
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