FRIDAY, Jan. 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Wherever Kathleen Simmonds goes, her service dog, Emma, isn't far behind. Emma -- also known by her Instagram handle, "Type 1 Wonder Dog" -- has been trained to sniff out dangerously high and low blood sugar levels and alert Simmonds so she can take action.

Simmonds, 48, has had type 1 diabetes for more than three decades, but she reached a point where she was no longer able to feel dangerous swings in her blood sugar levels.

"I got the dog for the security of my family. Things had gotten so bad that my husband was afraid to travel and my kids were afraid to go to school. They were worried they'd come home and find me passed out," Simmonds said.

Emma -- a border collie -- has brought Simmonds and her family peace of mind, as having the dog has significantly improved Simmonds' blood sugar management.

"She's like a big security blanket for all of us," Simmonds said.

Detecting highs and lows

A new British study confirms that dogs can detect dangerous variations in a person's blood sugar.

The researchers reviewed owner records on 27 dogs that had been trained by the same charity group. During more than 4,000 out-of-range episodes, the dogs were able to pick up an average of 70 percent of the episodes.

The dogs were slightly better at detecting low blood sugar levels, picking up on 83 percent of the low blood sugar episodes. For high blood sugar levels, the dogs were correct an average of 67 percent of the time, the study found.

Study author Nicola Rooney said these dogs "have immense potential to increase the quality of life of their companions, reducing health risk and even saving lives."

But, she said, there are a number of factors that can affect the dog's performance, such as the dog's individual temperament, its training and its relationship with its human partner.

"Just as we've seen in pet dogs, those dogs whose owners who consistently and positively reward their dog tend to have dogs that do the best," said Rooney, who is a teaching fellow in animal welfare and behavior at the Bristol Veterinary School in England. The study was published recently in the journal PLOS One.