Behold a New Hypoglycemia Detector: Dogs! - Diabetics Weekly

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Behold a New Hypoglycemia Detector: Dogs!

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December 15, 2016

Behold a New Hypoglycemia Detector: Dogs!

I’m plagued with a terrible fear of animals: squirrels, rabbits, birds, cats, and even Scooby-Doos. With that said, my heart still melts at the sight of these lovable animals – from afar.

In particular, dogs hold a special position in our society for their usefulness, and their value is about to go up a notch for people with diabetes.

Get this: dogs can sniff out hypoglycemia in people with diabetes.

When blood sugar begins to plunge down the rabbit hole, trained hypoglycemia alert dogs are capable of sensing it, alerting their owner, grabbing the aid kit, and heading out to look for help.

You might be asking yourself: how do dogs detect hypoglycemia?

Dogs own a powerful olfaction that can capture the distinct scent emitting from hypoglycemic people. A part of the inhaled air heads straight to the lungs and the other part is trapped within the nasal cavity. While expiration releases the air from the lungs, molecules from the nasal cavity remain. Further inhalation allows a greater amount of molecules to enter the nasal cavity and better detection by the olfactory bulb. Dogs are blessed with a wide surface nasal cavity, about 15 times larger than humans, making their sense of smell extremely keen.

Few studies are available on the matter. Hence, further research is warranted, particularly the exact molecule(s) that enable dogs to sniff hypoglycemia. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanism surrounding this event can help perfect the training program.

In Canada, a couple of people with diabetes currently own hypoglycemia alert dogs. Nancy Rodler, a Granby resident, shared that having a hypoglycemia alert dog has helped her to manage her glycemia better.

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Holiday Cheer Diabetes Style

Now one poor choice of a meal or binging on snacks one time isn’t going to undo all the hard work you've put in the rest of the year, but string together a week of decadent overindulgence and problems may start to occur. Here come the holidays! If you're a diabetic, it's that time of the year when you have to be extra vigilant. The constant snacking, huge festive meals and the endless parties create a dangerous temptation to break with healthy eating habits in favor gluttonous indulgence. The fact that it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere doesn't help matters as many of us are hibernate mode and are less physically active as a consequence "Eating and meal planning are essential components of controlling diabetes. But, the holidays thrust diabetics into situations that demand they resist the constant allure to overeat," Mimosa Nguyen, a registered dietitian told Diabetics Weekly. The path to managing these enticements, Nguyen said, is the same focus needed to control diabetes employed over the course of the rest of the year. Nguyen encourages diabetics to employ foresight, suggesting they enquire after party hosts regarding the party menu so they can better navigate how to stick to their healthy regime. She recommends that diabetics temper their eating: choosing only healthy options and avoiding overeating. "You need to remain in control," Nguyen insists, "Holidays can be an anxiety riddled time of the year and often we overeat when we feel stressed. So, diabetics need to be extra so that they don't undermine healthy routine they have stuck to during the rest of the year. "Try to remain active," the dietician says. "After meals take a walk. Don't let the winter weather inhibit you from getting the exercise you need. She also suggests that if you're at a party, don't position yourself right by the food, noting that proximity to temptation makes resistance more difficult. Now one poor choice of a meal or binging on snacks one time isn’t going to undo all the hard work you've put in the rest of the year, but string together a week of decadent overindulgence and problems may start to occur. But if you do fall from the path, Nguyen says don't beat yourself up. Rather, get back your healthy routine as quickly as possible.