Claire Pesterfield is a nurse at the University of Cambridge's Ardenbrook Hospital and a type 1 diabetic.

In addition to her daily care work, she also takes care of a golden retriever. This Golden Retriever is a specially trained medical test dog. When Claire's blood sugar is too low and may cause danger, the Golden Retriever can detect and alert the owner through the sense of smell.

Patients with type 1 diabetes need to be especially alert to hypoglycemia. If blood sugar is below a certain value, it may lead to coma, and severe cases may result in death. Professional doctors can judge whether a patient is in a hypoglycemia state based on some clinical signs, and the patient himself needs to constantly self-test his or her own blood glucose status to ensure safety.

Blood sugar test also blood test?

Nowadays, many medical instrument companies have reduced the difficulty of blood glucose testing. Basically, only one drop of blood is needed at the fingertips, and the results of blood glucose indicators can be quickly obtained. These instruments have been able to carry the size, but To make blood glucose testing easier, researchers are still exploring ways to make it easier and more convenient.

A group of researchers at the University of Cambridge got inspiration from the medical test dogs: Since the specially trained dogs discovered the problem through the sense of smell, what special chemicals were smelled and made them feel abnormal?

The research team found 8 women with type 1 diabetes. Experiments have shown that when they have hypoglycemia, the amount of a chemical in their breath increases significantly. This chemical is isoprene. In some cases, the amount of isoprene in the breath during hypoglycemia is even twice as high as normal.

Mark Evans, an honorary consultant at the Ardenbrook Hospital, says that isoprene is one of the most common chemicals in human breathing gas and is very easy to detect. So, this can even be called the "smell" of hypoglycemia. Although it is almost impossible for humans to distinguish this smell, the dog is extremely sensitive to it, which is why the special training dogs can save their lives at critical moments.

The research team has not yet concluded on the specific relationship between hypoglycemia and isoprene content. Dr. Evans concluded that this may be a by-product of the body's synthesis of cholesterol.

The results of this research have been published in the American medical journal Diabetes Care. Of course, the results of an experiment do not prove that respiratory testing can now replace existing blood glucose testing methods.

Urinary and Reproductive System

silicone foley catheter,foley catheter with temperature sensor,hsg catheter,cervical ripening balloon

Anesthesia Medical Co., Ltd. , https://www.jssinoanesthesias.com