Dogs Sniffing Out Diabetes
I've always been a huge softy for any news story relating to dogs, pets, or really any animal. So it was no surprise to me when the latest Reuters article British dogs trained to sniff out diabetes caught my eye.
In my experience being a pet owner, if there is any sort of storm on the horizon, whether it be rain, wind, thunder, or lightning storm, my two 80 pound golden retrievers let us know (and I mean really let us know). Whimpering, barking, and jumping onto our laps, we have the absolute "pleasure" of knowing first. I've heard a lot of other people in the past sharing very similar stories, which begins to address the idea of dogs having a sort of "sixth sense". A sense for weather, sickness, pain, fear, or even cancer. A sense even beyond that of human beings. This topic has always fascinated me. Is is really possible for dogs, or any animal to sense something so intangible? Being the dog lover I am, I like to believe so.
In a study done by researchers last December at the Queen's University in Belfast, 212 Type 1 diabetic dog owners were surveyed. Among the dog owners studied, 138 or 65% of owners said their dog had "shown a behavioral reaction to at least one of their hypoglycemic episodes", with 31.9% reacting to 11 or more events. What were the dogs reactions?
• Barking and whining, (61.5 percent),
• Licking (49.2 percent)
• Staring intently at their faces (41.3 percent)
• Nuzzling (40.6 percent),
• Jumping on top of them (30.4 percent)
At the Cancer and Bio-Detection Dogs research center in Aylesbury, trainers are putting these findings into practice. Here, trainers are working with 17 rescue dogs to detect tiny, tiny odors (parts per trillion) so that they may detect changes that can occur when a person is about to have a hypoglycemic attack. These dogs will be then be paired up with diabetic owners of all ages, many of which will be children.
The center began it's research with diabetes following the case of one man and his dog Tinker. This man told the center his dog Tinker would lick his face and pant beside him whenever his blood sugar got too low, and he was in danger of collapsing. Tinker has now been fully trained by the Aylesbury center and is now a fully qualified Diabetic Hypo-Alert dog.
What next? Although about 15 years behind, the research center hopes their work will help lead to the invention of an electronic nose, similar to that of a dog's (wow!).
Yet another warm, and touching story to encourage proper caring for your pets - for they may eventually be taking care of you :)
In my experience being a pet owner, if there is any sort of storm on the horizon, whether it be rain, wind, thunder, or lightning storm, my two 80 pound golden retrievers let us know (and I mean really let us know). Whimpering, barking, and jumping onto our laps, we have the absolute "pleasure" of knowing first. I've heard a lot of other people in the past sharing very similar stories, which begins to address the idea of dogs having a sort of "sixth sense". A sense for weather, sickness, pain, fear, or even cancer. A sense even beyond that of human beings. This topic has always fascinated me. Is is really possible for dogs, or any animal to sense something so intangible? Being the dog lover I am, I like to believe so.
In a study done by researchers last December at the Queen's University in Belfast, 212 Type 1 diabetic dog owners were surveyed. Among the dog owners studied, 138 or 65% of owners said their dog had "shown a behavioral reaction to at least one of their hypoglycemic episodes", with 31.9% reacting to 11 or more events. What were the dogs reactions?
• Barking and whining, (61.5 percent),
• Licking (49.2 percent)
• Staring intently at their faces (41.3 percent)
• Nuzzling (40.6 percent),
• Jumping on top of them (30.4 percent)
At the Cancer and Bio-Detection Dogs research center in Aylesbury, trainers are putting these findings into practice. Here, trainers are working with 17 rescue dogs to detect tiny, tiny odors (parts per trillion) so that they may detect changes that can occur when a person is about to have a hypoglycemic attack. These dogs will be then be paired up with diabetic owners of all ages, many of which will be children.
The center began it's research with diabetes following the case of one man and his dog Tinker. This man told the center his dog Tinker would lick his face and pant beside him whenever his blood sugar got too low, and he was in danger of collapsing. Tinker has now been fully trained by the Aylesbury center and is now a fully qualified Diabetic Hypo-Alert dog.
What next? Although about 15 years behind, the research center hopes their work will help lead to the invention of an electronic nose, similar to that of a dog's (wow!).
Yet another warm, and touching story to encourage proper caring for your pets - for they may eventually be taking care of you :)
Tags: bio-detection, diabetes, dogs
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