LIVINGLIVING
MY DIABETES KIT
CLAIRE PESTERFIELD
The charity Medical
Detection Dogs is an
organisation that trains
dogs to identify human
disease by odour. It
is currently undertaking a number of
pioneering research projects involving
canine olfaction, including the training
of dogs to detect cancer, blood sugar
changes, and Addison's disease.
Called biodetection, this science is still
relatively new, but trials have proven that
it is possible for dogs to identify certain
conditions due to them having a specific,
detectable odour. Dr Claire Guest, the
founder of the Medical Detection Dogs
charity, has a dog herself, Florin, who can
sniff out prostate cancer.
In addition, some of the dogs trained
by the charity are specifically trained to
be of aware of potentially life-threatening
situations, such as sniffing out hypos and
hypers in someone with diabetes. With
conditions such as diabetes, the dogs
can be tuned to a specific person and
their needs (in a room of diabetics with
low blood sugars, they are trained only to
tell their owner that their sugar is low).
Claire Pesterfield was diagnosed
with Type 1 diabetes in 1986 at the
age of 13. In her day job she is a DSN
(diabetes specialist nurse) at a hospital
in Cambridge. She currently uses a
Mechanic insulin pump and Medtronic
Enlite sensors for continuous glucose
monitoring (CGM), combined with a
Contour Next One Link blood test meter.
However, she certainly sees her medical
detection dog, Magic, as her most
invaluable piece of diabetes kit.
Pesterfield has had impaired hypo
awareness over the last 10 years, including
episodes of unconsciousness due to the
onset of undetected low blood glucose.
This was affecting her work as she took
time to recover from such episodes. "It
was a friend who showed me the Medical
Detection Dog charity, as her sister was
into showing dogs and had heard about it
in that arena," she says. She subsequently
applied for a medical detection dog in
2001 at which point she was interviewed
by the charity and a dog matched to her
needs. "Finding the right dog is key, but
so is finding the right person," she says,
"This has to be a bullet-proof relationship,
and a bullet-proof dog. It took 18 months
before I was matched with Magic."
Worth the wait
The selection and training process may
have taken some time, but once in place
it was a quick fix. Pesterfield recalls, "Just
months after being paired with Magic my
life changed completely. I have had no
episodes of unconsciousness at all since
then, and I've also gained better overall
control, although my actual awareness of
hypos has not come back as a result of
the better control, which was something
I might have hoped for. But with Magic
here to look after me, I know that I'm
going to be OK."