Effectiveness of Medical Alert Dogs to response to hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Combining the dog's great ability to smell with its mutual love relationship with man, the use of dogs to assist people in various activities has become a matter of course. Dogs have long been used for hunting and ranching. More recently, they have been used to assist people with disabilities, for rescue and for the detection of thousands of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) related to drugs, narcotics, explosives, food and even diseases. In recent years, the number of medical assistance tasks assigned to domestic dogs has increased. Diabetic Alert Dogs (DADs) have been shown to improve the quality of life of owners with type 1 diabetes. These dogs are a non-invasive method that can assist in blood glucose control. The canines can detect VOCs characteristic of hypoglycaemia allowing them to ``alert´´ to this condition with an average sensitivity of 80%. Some dogs are also capable of detecting hyperglycaemia and can even alert to people other than their owners and to different pathological conditions. DADs still present several limitations. These include the enormous economic cost, lack of official certification, poor standardization of training, variability between breeds, within breeds and between individuals, variety in warning signals, ability of the owner to interpret the animal's alertness, and lack of follow-up and evaluation of the dog once it is placed with its new owner. The results of the studies are still very heterogeneous and further research is needed, but eliminating these limitations could make DAD an incredibly efficient method for diabetes management.