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According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 26 million people in the united states have diabetes. Diabetes is characterized by abnormal glucose metabolism, with decreases in insulin activity and increased blood sugar levels. When you have diabetes, it’s important to monitor your blood sugar and adjust your diet, activity, and medications to help keep your blood sugar levels closer to normal levels.
For many people with diabetes, recognizing early symptoms of abnormal blood sugar levels can be difficult. In 2008, a revolutionary article published in the Journal of alternative and complementary medicine suggested people with diabetes might have a weapon for detecting early changes in blood sugar—their pet dog. In this fascinating study, 138 dog owners with diabetes were asked about their dog’s behavior and their own blood sugar levels. One in three people described how their dogs reacted most of the time their blood sugars started to get out of whack—often reacting before the person was aware that anything was wrong. most of the dogs alerting their owners to potentially serious changes in blood sugar levels by barking, licking them, nuzzling them, or staring intently at them. using the dog’s behavior as an early detection system allowed people to identify and react to changes in blood sugar before those changes increased and caused them to have potentially dangerous symptoms.
The Journal PLoS ONE just released a new study describing the benefits people with diabetes gain from partnering with a service dog that has been trained to alert them to changes in blood sugar levels. Researchers investigated the effect of having a blood sugar detection dog for 16 people with diabetes. Here’s with they found:
14 of 16 people believed they were more independent since getting the dog
15 believed their quality of life was improved because of the dog
14 people trusted the dog to alert them to a low blood sugar level
13 trusted the dog to alert them to a high blood sugar level
Perhaps most importantly, for 90 percent of people, their blood sugar levels were closer to their target ranges after having the service dog.
If you have diabetes, talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugars under good control. monitor your blood sugars and also watch your dog’s reaction to you. See if you can link a change in your dog’s behavior with an important change in your blood sugar levels. You may find you have another tool for keeping your diabetes under good control.
service Dogs