How your dog can smell a diabetic attack before it strikes

[Northerner]

From the Daily Mail:

Diabetes alert dogs are being used to alert type 1 diabetics that their blood sugar is too low and they are at risk of a dangerous ‘hypo’.
This can happen through not eating enough or from accidentally taking too much insulin, but some diabetics might not notice the warning signs, such as going pale and feeling shaky.
Without treatment they may lose consciousness.

Diabetes alert dogs are being used to alert type 1 diabetics that their blood sugar is too low and they are at risk of a dangerous 'hypo'
A diabetes alert dog can detect a change in body odour that can indicate low blood sugar, says Dr Claire Guest, of the charity Medical Detection Dogs.
‘We train our dogs to lick, nudge and stare at someone having a hypo, to make sure the person knows they should fetch their medical kit.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...iabetic-attack-strikes.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

There are a lot of stories recently about how people in the US - usually parents of a T1 child - are getting these dogs, but over there they cost $20,000. Here they are either specially trained by a charity (I raised money for them a couple of years ago), or it turns out that people's own pets have the skills anyway. Even ukjohn's parrot Rosie will prompt him if his levels are low! 🙂 Not all dogs are suitable - one user here tried to train her dog for her son but he wasn't really interested I don't think. I don't think there are any commercial companies that will sell you one here. There was a scandal in the US a couple of years ago when a company was selling dogs that simply hadn't been trained, which is a pretty disgusting way to con people, but putting their children's lives at risk

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Is it painful? Ow your dog can smell a diabetic attack!

 

[Northerner]

Is it painful? Ow your dog can smell a diabetic attack!

I don't know what you mean....🙄 <<whistles innocently>>

 

[DeusXM]

The DM tends to run this story on a yearly basis, with varying degrees of accuracy. Aside from the usual and deadly mistake of assuming someone with diabetes needs to take insulin when they get low blood sugar - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...s-WEEK-dog-sniff-needs-insulin-injection.html - there's also the usual tiresome image that all of us are literally just minutes away from collapsing and dying, or completely incapable of independently managing our blood sugar.

I'm sure these dogs are useful for some people but I can't help but think the time, effort and money taken to train these animals would be far better spent on getting people to learn how to more effectively manage their blood sugar levels themselves.

 

[Sazzaroo]

Interesting,

Was at a diabetes forum not so long ago and a blokey there said he could smell his wife when her diabetes plays up which at the time I thought how weird but there again he was at every turn trying to put her down and I felt for her not being able to have her own voice in her treatment.

Anyone ever heard that or even know?

 

[Northerner]

...I'm sure these dogs are useful for some people but I can't help but think the time, effort and money taken to train these animals would be far better spent on getting people to learn how to more effectively manage their blood sugar levels themselves.

I think that their main use is for someone who may have little hypo awareness, or obviously for the parents of small children who may not be able to communicate that they need assistance, so there's definitely very good reasons for having them. They're not paid for by the NHS, after all.

 

[Abi]

I'm sure these dogs are useful for some people but I can't help but think the time, effort and money taken to train these animals would be far better spent on getting people to learn how to more effectively manage their blood sugar levels themselves

Couldn't agree more
Then again I love dogs and would be delighted if I owned one who could give me a nudge when by BG had dropped to 4mmol/L- good safety margin then
But probs with hypo unawareness probably better dealt with by updating patient education, increased provision of strips, possibly pump/ CGMS or Islet Cell transplant

 

[Pumper_Sue]

The three dogs I have owned over a 30 + year period have all been able to tell me when hypo at night. My warning are a bit lapse if a very sudden drop happens during the night and each dog over the years has always been able to wake me. No training has ever been given.

My first dog a Collie oddly enough developed diabetes himself late in life yet he had no idea when he was hypo himself.

My last dog actually saved my life by leaving the house and grounds to go and fetch my landlord when I was taken ill with an Addison's crisis.
This dog was never allowed out on the rd without me and stuck to me like glue, so my landlord was most alarmed to see him on the farm without me and being very insistant that he followed him.

But no I do not think anyone should rely on a specially trained dog or any other animal to detect hypos. There is going to be a day when that dog departs this world so what then does that person do after relying on a trained animal to find they have nothing but themselves to rely on?

 

[Abi]

I'll chime in with a stor about a guide dog-I know a lady whose husband is blind- he had a guide dog who unfortunately became distracted due to the butcher and greengrocer across the road offering him tidbits- hence led his owner into the road- could have resulted in a tragedy. Had to go back for further training

 

[Northerner]

Another dog story...

Terrier wins Dogs Trust award for saving diabetic owner twice

A dog from South Yorkshire has won an award for saving the life of her owner twice.

Izzy, a terrier cross from Stocksbridge, won a Dogs Trust Honour for saving her diabetic owner, David Robinson.

Izzy was given the Hero Pet Dog award at the ceremony in London on 21 May.

Mr Robinson said 11-year-old Izzy first saved his life in 2004 by refusing to go on her Sunday morning walk.

Then earlier this year, the dog woke Mr Robinson's wife to alert her to her husband's hypoglycaemic attack.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-18163105

🙂 Not much detail given though.

 

[Kim23]

My best mate has a hypo-alert dog from them, he is amazing at helping her as she has no symptoms for hyper or hypo

 

[Kim23]

Forgot to say it is all to do with pheremones that we all give off when we are going low or high. He is given scents of my friends pheremones before she was paired with him as he was only dog that reacted. He has several ways of alerting her including a lick on the hand for hypo and jumping up at her for a high. He can't sense me though so he is specific for her

 

[Northerner]

My best mate has a hypo-alert dog from them, he is amazing at helping her as she has no symptoms for hyper or hypo

Excellent 🙂

Must admit I'm a bit surprised at the opinion that they shouldn't be an option and that money would be better spent on other options - for some this may be the best and most cost-effective option there is. Have you seen the cost of sensors and heard how difficult it is to get them funded? And that money does come from the NHS.

Why should a hypo alert dog be any less of an option than a guide dog for a blind person or a hearing dog for the deaf (for those who would benefit, which isn't everyone, and neither would everyone gain the best use of a hypo alert dog)? How do you teach a 2 year old child to let you know when he has a hypo coming on, perhaps in his sleep?

 

[Kim23]

She tried everything else, shes even lost her driving licence as she just doesn't have any sense. She couldn't afford the sensors as they are ridiculously expensive! She had to fight so much just to get the pump she is on but she had been on the waiting list for hypo dog for just over a year when she got news she was getting one. Her bm's are mostly stable now but because of no awareness she isn't really safe on her own. I didn't really believe that they could sense that sort of thing but he has alerted her to every one so far

 

[trophywench]

Such a dog could surely be useful at alerting Andrew Lansley, he'd certainly be subject to a diabetic attack if you put him in a room with me in it ........

 

[Copepod]

Excellent 🙂

Must admit I'm a bit surprised at the opinion that they shouldn't be an option and that money would be better spent on other options - for some this may be the best and most cost-effective option there is. Have you seen the cost of sensors and heard how difficult it is to get them funded? And that money does come from the NHS.

Why should a hypo alert dog be any less of an option than a guide dog for a blind person or a hearing dog for the deaf (for those who would benefit, which isn't everyone, and neither would everyone gain the best use of a hypo alert dog)? How do you teach a 2 year old child to let you know when he has a hypo coming on, perhaps in his sleep?

The NHS doesn't pay for guide dogs for blind people, hearing dogs etc - all supplied by charities.

I'd like to see manufacturers of blood glucose monitoring sensors etc reduce their prices.

 

[Northerner]

The NHS doesn't pay for guide dogs for blind people, hearing dogs etc - all supplied by charities. ...

Precisely. I was addressing the point that people with other support needs successfully use dogs in that capacity, so why might it be better to 'educate' a person if it wouldn't really improve things for them, but a dog would?

I agree with the price fixing of test strips etc. really it's just a cartel with region based pricing based on what markets will support (or rather what insurance or health systems will pay, not what individuals can afford)

 

[DeusXM]

I wasn't suggesting that these dogs shouldn't ever be an option - I just think there is a danger that these are being suggested as some sort of magical thing that makes everything better. It discourages people from working to develop their hypo awareness.

I can see why there might be a compelling argument for a dog for a two-year-old (although given a two-year-old can tell you when it is hungry or it needs the toilet, I'd suggest it's also capable of telling you when it's having a hypo). But there are a lot of stories where you read some horrific sentences, such as the one I posted, where it says: "Before the arrival of Shirley, the schoolgirl had to constantly check her sugar levels and was taken to hospital up to four times a week."

Now, I don't know all the ins-and-outs of this particular case, nor have I ever been a parent of a child with diabetes. But if your kid is being taken to hospital four times a week because of their diabetes, you're just doing something fundamentally wrong with managing the diabetes in the first place. Wouldn't it be far better to try and get some decent control and encourage good habits in the first place?

Look at it this way - if someone has diabetes, do you either a)train them to manage it themselves or b)get a carer in to do it for them. 99% of the time, it's the former. It's the same with the dog, it's basically just a hairy carer. If someone is hypo-unaware, there are proven techniques that restore hypo awareness that don't actually cost anything over the cost of regular treatment.

I guess also I have a philosophical and rather selfish objection. I'm so tired of these kinds of alarmist stories that suggest we're all on the verge of collapsing dead at any moment. It's bad enough when you get people asking if you can eat this or giving you advice about what their diabetic gran used to do. This is just another patronising and misinformed question to have to deal with, "oh, do you have one of those special dogs that tell you when to take insulin so you don't collapse and die?"

 

[AlisonF]

One of our readers on the blog has one of these dogs which she's trained with the help of a charity. I was sceptical, but reading her experience, it's really working for her http://www.shootuporputup.co.uk/201...odle-medical-detection-alert-dog-in-training/

And it has the additional benefit of being one of the cutest dogs I've ever seen.

 

[Ellie Jones]

All assistance dogs are funded either by charity or by the owners themselves no funding from government at all!

Ellie and Jones both pick up hypo's, They actually saved my husbands life during one hypo he suffered! We haven't trained them they just do it.. We did look into training them up via a charity to official Assistance dogs, but they are themselves rescue dogs and Jones was a neglect case, and doesn't cope with strangers or crowds well..

Ellie does the, sit in front of you places her paw on your knee and stars at you intently and she won't move until you start to take your BG, And you may not even be officially hypo! Still just above the 4 mark..