What Dogs Are Teaching Us About Cancer
“Sometimes people think, ‘Oh, this is about owners who are dropping their dogs off for research purposes,’ and that’s not the case at all. These are dogs that belong to people that continue to be cared for and live in their homes,” Brown says.
“You’ll have these veterinary specialists who are running trials that have access to all the latest tests and MRIs and equipment, so the dogs are still treated for their medical condition. They just happen to be having samples taken or having drug therapy that is still experimental.”
Such treatments could cost pet owners thousands of dollars, she says, while these clinical trials are offered at reduced cost or sometimes for free.
And the potential benefits go far beyond cancer research.
At first glance, a dog’s spine seems to have little in common with a human’s.
But Jonathan Levine, DVM, says spinal injuries in dogs can be very similar. An associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Levine has been working for years on a treatment in dogs that could be used in humans.
He is compiling the results from a study of 90 injured dogs that received the treatment shortly after injury. It’s designed to block enzymes released after an injury that can cause more permanent damage and stunt the healing process.
The hope is that, combined with surgery, rehabilitation, and other treatments, the drug will show enough promise to eventually be used in human trials.
“I think the reality is it’s hard to find treatments for human spinal cord injuries. There are so many examples of failed trials and the hope for those of us working with dogs that are injured is we can speed discovery, that we can help the dogs, and we can help people. And we really believe in the potential of these dogs to do that,” Levine says.
At the University of Arizona, scientists are looking to the bacteria in our guts to try to prove the adage that having a dog makes us healthier. Could the relationship between man and man’s best friend be more than a social one?
What Dogs Are Teaching Us About Cancer
Fighting Cancer continued...
“Sometimes people think, ‘Oh, this is about owners who are dropping their dogs off for research purposes,’ and that’s not the case at all. These are dogs that belong to people that continue to be cared for and live in their homes,” Brown says.
“You’ll have these veterinary specialists who are running trials that have access to all the latest tests and MRIs and equipment, so the dogs are still treated for their medical condition. They just happen to be having samples taken or having drug therapy that is still experimental.”
Such treatments could cost pet owners thousands of dollars, she says, while these clinical trials are offered at reduced cost or sometimes for free.
And the potential benefits go far beyond cancer research.
Treating Spinal Injuries
At first glance, a dog’s spine seems to have little in common with a human’s.
But Jonathan Levine, DVM, says spinal injuries in dogs can be very similar. An associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Levine has been working for years on a treatment in dogs that could be used in humans.
He is compiling the results from a study of 90 injured dogs that received the treatment shortly after injury. It’s designed to block enzymes released after an injury that can cause more permanent damage and stunt the healing process.
The hope is that, combined with surgery, rehabilitation, and other treatments, the drug will show enough promise to eventually be used in human trials.
“I think the reality is it’s hard to find treatments for human spinal cord injuries. There are so many examples of failed trials and the hope for those of us working with dogs that are injured is we can speed discovery, that we can help the dogs, and we can help people. And we really believe in the potential of these dogs to do that,” Levine says.
Do Dogs Make Us Healthier?
At the University of Arizona, scientists are looking to the bacteria in our guts to try to prove the adage that having a dog makes us healthier. Could the relationship between man and man’s best friend be more than a social one?
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