COLLEGE STATION — Nasie Constantino opted for an unplanned roommate shortly after moving to College Station to attend graduate school at Texas A&M University — and got a wise partner in the deal.
Not only had Constantino never lived alone, but her degree work called for frequent trips alone to experimental corn fields where she had several close calls.
“I’ve been an insulin-dependent diabetic for 18 years,” she said. “Once my blood sugar got too low while I was in the middle of the cornfield, and I scared myself enough that I looked into getting a service dog.”
Axel, a German Shepherd from The Netherlands, arrived in August 2013, and Constantino credits him with already saving her life on multiple occasions by alerting her to low blood sugar levels. His constant companionship and keen sense of smell also led to Axel being mentioned in Constantino’s National Science Foundation and other grant applications.
“I mention in the applications that my work pertains to volatiles and how I have become more aware of their importance since getting Axel. He has helped me understand volatile production and distress signals,” she said. “Plants use volatiles to communicate, and I made the connection that I’m communicating with my service dog through volatiles. I am sending out a distress signal just like my plants are.”
Constantino’s doctoral studies pertain to green leaf volatiles, known by researchers as GLVs, which are released into the atmosphere when a grassy plant is cut or chewed on by insects. She is researching what role the cut-grass smelling volatiles play in defending the plants against pests and perhaps drought.
For her research, she uses normal plants that have the volatile and mutant plants that are incapable of producing the aroma.
“Plants emit a distress signal, GLVs, when they are being attacked by insects. These GLVs will signal to the surrounding plants that there is an insect attack occurring and they should defend themselves. GLVs will also signal predators of the insects to come and attack them,” Constantino said.
“Similarly, I make a distress signal when my blood sugar fluctuates. I emit volatiles through my breath, called ketones, which Axel can detect. He can smell if my blood sugar is too high or too low from the amount of ketones I’m emitting.”
Constantino has hypoglycemia unawareness, a condition diabetics can develop after having so many experiences with low blood sugar that the person no longer realizes when it is happening. Sensing blood sugar levels is one of many tasks a service dog can be trained to do.
Service Dog Central, an online community of service dog partners and trainers that act as a clearinghouse for information, estimates there are 100,000-200,000 public access, task-trained service dogs in the U.S.
“He behaves really well in the lab,” she said. “He knows not to touch me while I’m working, because I can’t have a bunch of chemicals in my hand and a dog chasing me around. So, he just sits by my desk while I run between labs. Though if he does sense that my blood sugar is too high or too low, he will signal me either by putting his foot on my knee or pawing at me. Then I’ll either get insulin or some sort of sugar. And once I’ve taken care of my blood sugar, I give Axel his reward, which is a ball.”
While the grant application process is pending, Constantino is actively pursuing her research and teaching a class in the plant pathology and microbiology department because of Axel.
His presence is a joy for the department’s other students, staff and faculty, according to lead professor, Dr. Michael Kolomiets.
“He’s the emotional support dog of the lab,” Constantino said.
Axel accompanies her to classes she is taking and the course she teaches where he sits behind the podium like “a big fuzzy rug most of the time,unless he is working.”
And his work actually never ends.
“Some nights my blood sugar will get too low. When this happens I have trouble waking up,” she said. “Axel will get in bed with me and paw at the covers. He has even learned to put his back to my back, put all four feet on the wall and push me out of the bed. He has saved me several timeswhen my blood sugar has gotten too low.”
Constantino is confident of completing graduate school – and ultimately teaching or working for a research and development company – in large part thanks to Axel.
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