How Dogs Help Patients with Diabetes with their Superior Sense of Smell

Dogs assist humans in many activities. Some of their activities are directly attributable to their unparalleled sniffing capacity. The canine olfactory system gives them the ability to detect even negligible amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) related to drugs, narcotics, explosives, and foods. Consequently, it is not surprising to see dogs involved in biosecurity, drug enforcement, food security, prevention, and containment of bio- and agroterrorism.

Canine olfactory perception is more sensitive than the human sense of smell. The overall area that includes olfactory cells in a dog’s nose is 20 times larger when compared to the human nose. This smelling ability has contributed to the use of dogs in disease recognition such as cancer and diabetes.

The first diabetes-detection dog was a yellow Labrador retriever named Armstrong. Armstrong was trained in 2003 to detect via scent the subtle chemical changes leading to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Hypoglycemia is a common side effect of insulin therapy, in people with type 1 diabetes. Deficient levels of blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can result in a fatal coma if left untreated. Alert dogs are trained to detect low or high blood sugar levels at early stages before the blood sugar levels become too dangerous.

Labrador retriever, Armstrong, is recognized in Guinness World Records 2015 as the world’s first diabetic-alert dog. Based on his success, Dogs for Diabetes (D4D) was founded in 2004.

So, what are diabetes alert dogs identifying?

When people with type 1 diabetes have low blood sugar levels, the levels of natural chemicals found in human breath increases. Dogs are sensitive to the variations of these natural chemicals. It is also very likely that dogs can perceive human glycemic modifications not only using their noses but also by integrating information from other senses such as their vision. As we have discussed in prior posts, dogs are experts in reading body language. Dogs are very sensitive to our facial expressions and postures. Therefore, it is possible that dogs integrate the olfactory information and visual signals, which may help the dog to recognize a dangerous clinical condition such as hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia (high levels of sugar in the blood).