Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle

Tag Archive for ‘canine’

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Dogs and humans have a lot in common when it comes to brain tumors

The most common type of naturally occurring brain tumor in humans and their feline as well as canine companions are meningiomas. The most aggressive form in humans is Meningioma C (MenG C). Unfortunately, there is currently no treatment available for MenG C and tumors often return even after radiation and surgery. Researchers were curious whether canine meningiomas were similar to human MenG C. In a newly published study, appearing in […]

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Gray wolves living within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone develop cancer resilience

Like humans, dogs are at risk of spontaneously developing cancer as they age. In fact, cancer is the leading cause of death for dogs (Gardner et al., 2016). Research suggests that dogs may better model cancer than rodents because the disease progression is similar to humans including involvement of the immune system, molecular pathways, variations between animals, tumor resistance to chemotherapy, and metastasis (Gardner et al., 2016). Thus, understanding and […]

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Dogs may facilitate spread of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Alec Oliva, a graduate student at Midwestern University – Glendale campus, presented research examining the spread of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) at the 2019 Arizona Physiological Society conference this past weekend. With a mortality rate as much as 80% without treatment, the spread of this disease is quite concerning. Ticks are vectors for the Rickettsia rickettsii bacteria responsible for causing RMSF. Dogs are notoriously at risk for acquiring tick infestations […]

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Discovering markers of kidney disease at earlier stages in dogs

Proteins are not normally found in the urine of healthy individuals as the filtering units of the kidney prevent the loss of large proteins and smaller ones are typically reabsorbed. A team of researchers at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and Ohio State University recently searched for biomarkers indicative of early stages of kidney disease in dogs. They discovered that the urine of dogs in stages 1 or […]

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Blood biomarker of heart disease discovered in dogs

The mitral valve is located between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart where it serves an important role in preventing backflow of blood into the left atrium as the ventricle contracts. Mitral valve prolapse, a condition that occurs in humans, is characterized by regurgitation of blood into the left atrium, which receives blood from the lungs. Hence, this condition can lead to congestive heart failure as blood backs up in the […]

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