Diabetic Awareness Dogs are Gaining Popularity

Being a diabetic for twelve years now I am fully aware of the complications associated with the disease. Last year, in fact, I fell into a hypoglycemic coma in my sleep twice. The paramedics had to be called and it was a frightening ordeal for my family members. I recently ran across an interesting technique, however, to warn diabetics in their sleep if their blood glucose drops to hypoglycemic levels: dogs. That’s right specially trained dogs are now being used to sense when a diabetic’s blood glucose level falls below normal. These dogs then alert the diabetic out of sleep before the patient is too “low” to return to a stable reading. These dogs are able to sense a change in blood sugar by an odor, undetectable to humans, that is produced. These trained dogs are typically very successful and are becoming more popular in the diabetic community. While they are an effective tool, they are quite expensive ranging from $7500 to 25000.

Some of the dogs are also able to be further trained to not only detect low blood glucose levels but high levels as well. These dogs are trained for patients with more severe cases. Many stories have been published about the success of these dogs and the vitality to some of their patient's everyday routine.

While I do not have a dog, my parents have suggested the possibility of getting one. Although no plans have been made yet, there is a possibility that I may own one of these dogs in the future.

www.heavenscentpaws.com
www.allpurposecanines.com/alert.html
healthcorner.walgreens.com/display/1873.htm

-Lance Wyatt
Section 434