A recent study has suggested that Dogs can potentially prove to be life-savers for millions of patients suffering from diabetes across the world by acting as an early-warning system for them.
For the first time, the experts have proved time that dogs especially trained to respond to their owner's low blood sugar levels can save them from a potentially fatal - hypoglycaemic attack, the Daily Express reported.
The animals have the ability to use their acute sense of smell though which they can detect the changes in the chemical composition of their owner's sweat or breath.
Moreover, they can also be trained to raise the alarm by barking, pawing or even fetching a blood testing kit.
All people suffering with Type 1 diabetes and those with Type 2 diabetes, who are keeping themselves on glucose lowering medication, including insulin, need to regularly check their blood glucose.
Moreover, taking too much insulin can result in hypoglycaemia - or a hypo - caused by abnormally low levels of sugar in the blood.
Symptoms of diabetes include hunger, trembling or shakiness, and sweating. In more complex cases it can also affect concentration or cause slurred speech. Failure to correct the hypo through eating a sugary food could also lead to coma and even death.
Now, the first academic study to find whether dogs could be reliably used to provide an early-warning system in order to observe glycaemia control has been carried out by researchers from the University of Bristol.
The details of the research have been published in the journal PLOS ONE.
-With inputs from ANI
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