Vitamin D may boost IBD treatment success: Study

Vitamin D may boost IBD treatment success: Study: Low vitamin D levels may reduce the chances of success of treatment for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as colitis and Crohn’s, according to a new study.

Anti-inflammatory diet could act to preserve bone strength: Study

Anti-inflammatory diet could act to preserve bone strength: Study: New associations between food and bone health have been outlined in a study, which suggests that anti-inflammatory diets could strengthen bone and reduce fractures.

Benefits of early detection of cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) in pets.

Cognitive dysfunction syndrome may be incurable, but if caught early, you can stave off its effects and even show pet improvement.While cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) is incurable, there are ways to stave it off and even get a pet to show improvement. Specialists say that too often cognitive dysfunction goes unnoticed by owners and therefore goes unreported to veterinarians. When obvious signs appear, treatment may start too late. A 14-year-old Lhasa Apso cross showed no signs of cognitive dysfunction until stress began to creep into his home. First, his owner was hospitalized for a period, so a dog sitter showed up. Then the other dog in the household died. By that time the Lhasa Apso was becoming needier and was experiencing sensory issues and apparent deafness. The absence of the owner was a stress for the dog, and that’s when it started showing its very clear indicators of cognitive decline. Dr. Nichol, who practices in Albuquerque, N.M., viewed the events that stressed the dog as fortuitous. Nichol started the dog on Novifit, fish oil, Senilife, gabapentin and Zylkene. “This dog has improved pretty significantly, and at this point it’s going on over a year now and he’s continuing to do better,” Nichol said. “[CDS] appears not to be advancing.” Supplements and diets are among the tools that specialists like Nichol use to treat CDS. That’s in addition to Anipryl (selegiline), a drug that many veterinarians prescribe for the disease. While Anipryl is widely accepted as a viable treatment, Nichol has heard from some practitioners who questioned the drug’s effectiveness. He believes that in many unsuccessful cases the pet was diagnosed in more advanced states of CDS. Dr Nichol's solution is for veterinarians to raise the subject as pet owners should receive a one-page questionnaire that has a simple scoring system using queries about disorientation, social relationships, sleep-wake cycles, memory and activity level. He

Cognitive dysfunction syndromes in dogs and cats.

Cognitive dysfunction syndromes in dogs and cats are degenerative brain diseases that are often missed until the signs become so advanced that it may be too late to help the pet or owner. in a study,researchers found that the overall prevalence of cognitive dysfunction was a little more than 14 percent, but only about 1.9 percent of cases are diagnosed. The same study found that the chances of having cognitive dysfunction increase with age, so that by the time dogs are 15 years old, 41 percent will have at least one sign consistent with cognitive decline. Neilson and Hart estimated the prevalence in geriatric dogs at 68 percent. In a 2011 review, Gunn-Moore estimated that one-third of cats 11 to 14 years old has age-related cognitive decline, which increased to more than 50 percent of cats 15 years old or older. Unfortunately, less is known about the cognitive effects of aging on senior cats than on senior dogs, but their management is similar. Cognitive dysfunction is a decline in learning, memory or awareness due to the age-related changes within the brain, and they are represented clinically by a group of signs related to varying states of dementia,although appearance is physical the root is psychological. The brains of dogs and cats undergo neuropathology as they age ,such as oxidative damage, neuronal loss, atrophy and the development of ß-amyloid plaques. These are similar changes in human brains with Alzheimer’s disease alongside other pathology that is not seen in canine (or feline) brains, they also develop these ß-amyloid plaques. The brains undergo similar pathology as they develop dementia, dogs are a great research model for human dementia. The knowledge gained from this research not only helps people, but can also help veterinarians help these pets.continue

Why Technology Isn’t One Size Fits All for Horses.

We live in a world dominated by technology. The pace of change has been breathtaking, and advances have made equine practice easier, more innovative and more efficient. But is technology the key to a successful 21st-century equine practice? Clients may view new technology as evidence that a practitioner is cutting edge and committed to the latest in equine care. As such, investing in technology may be thought of as a form of advertising. The equine world is filled with an almost limitless number of devices that blink, shine or magnetize. Practitioners should consider whether they can recoup their investment in treatment technologies. In some circumstances, technology clearly decreases the time needed to accomplish a task. For example, digital radiography offers significant advantages insofar as the speed with which radiographs are processed, ultimately allowing practitioners to take more radiographs compared to other technologies. Similarly, distributing the radiographs can be done via email, negating the need for telephone communication. As much as we may want it to be so, technology does not always result in greater efficiency. Practices that lean heavily on technology systems may be virtually paralyzed if a system breaks down or if a provider is unresponsive or, even worse, goes out of business. New technologies come with learning curves that can make implementation a struggle and result in lost productivity and frustration.continue

How Horses Can Help Couples Battling Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

A program at UC Davis is using collaborative efforts with horses to help couples dealing with Dementia and Alzheimer's."Horses have this innate ability to sense feeling and energy around them and they give you that immediate feedback," said Paula Hertel, who alongside Nancy Schier Anzelmo created the Connected Horse Project. Both have worked with horses their whole lives, and spent their professional careers focused on seniors' health issues like Alzheimers and Dementia. Between those subjects they drew a connection one not everyone saw at first. Most estimates from the Alzheimer's Association put the number of Americans suffering from Alzheimer's at more than five million - the majority are over age 65. In its worst stages Alzheimer's patients can lose their ability to speak entirely. Working with the horses takes nonverbal communication. At the heart of the research with Connected Horses, the idea that couples dealing with Alzheimer's can learn to interact better with each other by communicating with the horses. continue

Malaria drugs fail for first time on patients in UK.

A key malaria treatment has failed for the first time in patients being treated in the UK.The drug combination was unable to cure four patients, who had all visited Africa, in early signs the parasite is evolving resistance. A team at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said it was too early to panic. But it warned things could suddenly get worse and demanded an urgent appraisal of drug-resistance levels in Africa. Malaria parasites are spread by bites from infected mosquitoes. It is a major killer of the under-fives with one child dying from the disease every two minutes. Between 1,500 and 2,000 people are treated for malaria in the UK each year - always after foreign travel. Most are treated with the combination drug: artemether-lumefantrine. But clinical reports, now detailed in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, showed the therapy failed in four patients between October 2015 and February 2016. All initially responded to therapy and were sent home, but were readmitted around a month later when the infection rebounded. Samples of the parasite that causes malaria were analysed at the Malaria Reference Laboratory at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr Colin Sutherland told the BBC News website: "It's remarkable there's been four apparent failures of treatment, there's not been any other published account [in the UK]." All of the patients were eventually treated using other therapies. But the detailed analysis of the parasites suggested they were developing ways of resisting the effects of the front-line drugs.Two of the cases were associated with travel to Uganda, one with Angola and one with Liberia - suggesting drug-resistant malaria could be emerging over wide regions of the continent.continue