Any German student will be able to translate the word 'Ruefenacht' to mean 'alert in the night', yet Mark Ruefenacht was sleeping in a hotel room one night, and was far from alert.
In his defense, he was not at fault. Like many people who suffer from Type I or Insulin Dependent Diabetes, Mark's blood sugar had dropped alarmingly over the course of the night, and he was in danger of a hypoglycemic seizure.
Mark, luckily for him, was not alone in the hotel room that night. He was taking a Labrador puppy with him to a new owner, a blind man, to be the man's 'Seeing Eye' dog. It was on this assignment that he had stopped at a hotel with the puppy.
When Mark's blood sugar began dropping rapidly, the puppy tugged at him and began barking till he was awake. Mark acted quickly, and perhaps the puppy could well have saved his life. It could thus be said that the puppy had awakened Mark — both literally and figuratively — to the potential that dogs had, as assistants for millions of insulin-dependent diabetics. This could be described as the single most important discovery for diabetics, since Dr Frederick Banting and his colleagues discovered insulin in 1922 in Canada.
Researchers are still unclear as to how dogs are able to detect fallen levels of blood sugar in people. They are speculating that it is most probably due to the dogs' very highly-developed olfactory senses. Dogs are helpful for epileptics too. Dogs can alert the epileptic owner, who are on the verge of a seizure, and enable them to get into a safe position, avoiding a potential dangerous fall.
In the year 2004, a program called Dogs4Diabetics was founded in America. It is a non- profit organisation, whose volunteers train dogs to be companions to those who have Type I (Insulin Dependent) Diabetes.
Dogs for this programme are trained to identify, and act upon scent changes that hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) causes in body chemistry. It is important to note that human beings are not aware of these changes.
Mark Ruefenacht founded the Dogs for Diabetes Project, after his own experience. It is also called the Armstrong Project after the Labrador retriever who inspired the programme.
It was Armstrong's reaction to his handler's hypoglycemia that saved Mark's life, and led to the foundation of this remarkable venture. Armstrong has travelled throughout the US with his diabetic master, and they continue to spread the word to other diabetics.
The dogs enrolled in this initiative have had remarkable success monitoring their handler's sugar levels and the programme is growing by leaps and bounds. For other success stories on this programme, visit http://www.dogs4diabetics.com/applicants/success.html
In his defense, he was not at fault. Like many people who suffer from Type I or Insulin Dependent Diabetes, Mark's blood sugar had dropped alarmingly over the course of the night, and he was in danger of a hypoglycemic seizure.
Mark, luckily for him, was not alone in the hotel room that night. He was taking a Labrador puppy with him to a new owner, a blind man, to be the man's 'Seeing Eye' dog. It was on this assignment that he had stopped at a hotel with the puppy.
When Mark's blood sugar began dropping rapidly, the puppy tugged at him and began barking till he was awake. Mark acted quickly, and perhaps the puppy could well have saved his life. It could thus be said that the puppy had awakened Mark — both literally and figuratively — to the potential that dogs had, as assistants for millions of insulin-dependent diabetics. This could be described as the single most important discovery for diabetics, since Dr Frederick Banting and his colleagues discovered insulin in 1922 in Canada.
Researchers are still unclear as to how dogs are able to detect fallen levels of blood sugar in people. They are speculating that it is most probably due to the dogs' very highly-developed olfactory senses. Dogs are helpful for epileptics too. Dogs can alert the epileptic owner, who are on the verge of a seizure, and enable them to get into a safe position, avoiding a potential dangerous fall.
In the year 2004, a program called Dogs4Diabetics was founded in America. It is a non- profit organisation, whose volunteers train dogs to be companions to those who have Type I (Insulin Dependent) Diabetes.
Dogs for this programme are trained to identify, and act upon scent changes that hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) causes in body chemistry. It is important to note that human beings are not aware of these changes.
Mark Ruefenacht founded the Dogs for Diabetes Project, after his own experience. It is also called the Armstrong Project after the Labrador retriever who inspired the programme.
It was Armstrong's reaction to his handler's hypoglycemia that saved Mark's life, and led to the foundation of this remarkable venture. Armstrong has travelled throughout the US with his diabetic master, and they continue to spread the word to other diabetics.
The dogs enrolled in this initiative have had remarkable success monitoring their handler's sugar levels and the programme is growing by leaps and bounds. For other success stories on this programme, visit http://www.dogs4diabetics.com/applicants/success.html