Dogs of Forewarning

Epilepsy affects millions worldwide, and its most severe manifestation involves an abrupt (17) .......... of consciousness accompanied by violent convulsions. The condition is profoundly (18) .......... for those who endure it, given that attacks may strike without any prior warning, leaving sufferers vulnerable to serious injury from falls or to hazards such as (19) .......... traffic if a seizure occurs in a public thoroughfare. One young patient, afflicted by as many as five episodes daily, had by adolescence sustained two severe concussions and numerous fractured teeth as a consequence of such falls. Guide dogs have long assisted individuals living with partial or total (20) .......... , and a comparable model now exists for epilepsy sufferers, with specially trained animals (21) .......... that their owners are not exposed to risk during an episode. A remarkable subset of dogs, however, goes considerably further: these so-called seizure-alert animals can detect an impending attack up to thirty minutes in advance, affording their owners precious time to reach a place of safety or to administer seizure-suppressing medication — provided such treatment is both available and (22) .......... for them. The precise mechanism by which these dogs perceive an approaching seizure remains unknown, though trainers consistently seek animals displaying a (23) .......... acuity in detecting sounds and scents, combined with an instinctive attunement to human states. It is conceivable that such dogs register the subtle physiological signals (24) .......... a seizure more acutely than any instrument currently can.