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Phone scams, gardening, insurance claims: 5 French practical updates
Our roundup of recent practical articles you may have missed
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Picnic in Paris? Chance to join huge meal on Champs-Elysees
The event could even be record-breaking. You can now apply for your chance to take part
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Many older electrical installations in France have security faults
‘Electrical installations age, like cars, and you need to call an electrician to check them’, the national electrical safety observatory warns
Dogs detect diabetes and help families
Dogs are being tested by three families in a pioneering move in France to help young people know if they are at risk from a diabetic attack as the dogs can smell blood sugar levels.
With a sense of smell 200,000 times better than humans, dogs can tell if there is an abnormally high or low level of sugar in the blood and either let the youngster know or call for help if they do not respond.
Parents talk of the stress that a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes brings with glucose tests every few hours day and night for the incurable, auto-immune disease that hits major organs. It affects 20,000 children in France.
Three dogs were trained over eight months by the Acadia association but more than 60 people need help and Acadia needs funding to carry on.
Research is also continuing at the Institut Curie in Paris where dogs are tested for their ability to detect breast cancer after 100% success in initial tests.
