Poorva Chavan
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Written By: Poorva Chavan | Updated : March 9, 2016 6:20 PM IST
You must be aware of glucose monitoring devices that measure glucose levels once you provide a drop of your blood as a sample. But did you know certain dogs called Diabetes Alert Dogs also help in alerting diabetics of their dropping glucose levels?Jedi is one such dog and is a companion of Luke who's a seven-year-old suffering from
Jedi is one such dog and is a companion of Luke who's a seven-year-old suffering from type -1-diabetes. According to the post on the Facebook page titled--Saving Luke--Luke and Jedi--Fighting type-1-diabetes together, Jedi, a Diabetes Alert Dog, caught Luke's dropping blood sugar and jumped off the bed and started pawing the bed and yawning which are his stress signals. When Luke's blood glucose levels were checked they had reached 72 which is not dangerously low but it is low when compared to the normal blood glucose levels at night.
The Facebook post says that Jedi can predict when Luke's blood glucose levels are drifting low and these alerts helps them in preventing the blood glucose levels from falling further during the night. His alerts usually include jumping off the bed and doing whatever it takes to wake up Luke's mother. Luke wears a continuous blood glucose monitor which also raises an alarm if his blood glucose levels drop but is 20-30 minutes delayed.
Type 1 diabetes is a congenital condition where babies are born with impaired glucose metabolism. Their bodies are not able to produce enough insulin to metabolise glucose, which leads to increased blood glucose levels. Till date, there's no treatment that can reverse type 1 diabetes and patients have to depend on medicines and insulin for the rest of their lives.
And when the condition is so severe regular monitoring of blood glucose levels is of utmost important as it can help you take the right measures at the right time. Here are a few more tips to manage type-1-diabetes in children.
According to a study published in the journal Diabetes Care, Diabetes Alert Dogs are highly accurate and their accuracy matches blood glucose monitoring technology. The study also says that using a Diabetes Alert Dog helps in improving glycemic control and quality of life.
Here's the Facebook post which shows how Jedi alerted Luke's mother--
Night alerts. (and just to clarify for people who just joined us Jedi catches dropping blood sugars before they go too... Posted by Saving Luke - Luke and Jedi - Fighting Type 1 Diabetes Together on Monday, 7 March 2016
Reference--
1.Gonder-Frederick L, Rice P, Warren D, Vajda K, Shepard J. Diabetic Alert Dogs: A Preliminary Survey of Current Users. Diabetes Care. 2013;36(4):e47. doi:10.2337/dc12-1998.
Image source--Saving Luke--Luke and Jedi--Fighting type-1-diabetes together
