Who Needs a D.A.D.?

According to the American Diabetes Association, an estimated 25.8 million Americans, or 8.3 percent of the population, have diabetes. Of that number, five percent have Type 1 diabetes — the most severe kind. Those who have had the disease for decades can develop “hypoglycemia unawareness,” or the inability to tell when their blood sugar is rapidly dropping. The lives of diabetics with hypoglycemic unawareness can be dramatically changed by a Diabetes Alert Dog.

Children with Type 1 can also benefit from a DAD. Parents of a child too young to communicate can be alerted BEFORE the blood sugar gets dangerously low. Oft times, children are so busy being children, that they don’t notice or associate the “yucky” feeling that low blood sugar produces until they’re VERY low. Once again, a DAD can alert the handler (parent or child) before the episode gets out of control.