近来开始有训练用来防底血糖昏迷的工作犬。糖尿病人发生的此种状况往往是不及预测
并或是非常致命的。一些研究机构也在试图找出是否在发生这种状况时休内产生的某种
物质引起狗狗的反应。
Have you ever heard of a dog that could sense when blood sugar is dropping
to an unsafe level? They are called Hypoglycemic Alert Dogs and they are
changing lives.
The March 2008 issue of Diabetes Forecast, the consumer magazine of the
American Diabetes Association (ADA), features an article about assistance
dogs that are trained to sense episodes of human hypoglycemia, or low blood
glucose, and sound a life-saving alert.
According to the article, these dogs seem to sense a dangerous drop in blood
glucose before it begins, allowing the people they work with to prevent an
episode altogether. Some dogs seem to sense high blood glucose, too. Mark
Ruefenacht is a forensic scientist with type 1 diabetes who started a
hypoglycemia alert dog training center in California and has been placing
trained dogs with people who need them for three years.
“Clients are coming back saying, ‘I have never had better control of my
blood sugar in my life as I have since I got this dog.’”
Scientists remain unsure about how the dogs are able to sense changes in
their human companions. It is believed that the dogs are reacting to scents
created by chemical changes related to glucose imbalance, but no one knows
exactly which chemicals cause the scent. Despite this scientific uncertainty
, hypoglycemia alert dogs have provided a great sense of relief to people
with diabetes and their families, including parents of young children with
diabetes and adults whose history of hypoglycemic episodes made it difficult
or even dangerous to live alone.
Currently, there are only a few groups in the United States that are
training assistance dogs to sense hypoglycemia. The training requires years
of expensive work, which severely limits the number of people who can be
paired with dogs. For those who do get the chance, however, the benefit can
be remarkable.
“The first time that dog gets you up in the middle of the night because
your child is dropping into a serious low, rapidly you realize it’s worth
every penny you spent, and every minute you had to wait,” says Donna Cope,
whose child has diabetes.
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