Dogs also suffer cognitive dysfunction if they lack physical activity

sarahjay1 (69)memberin Popular STEM • 2 years ago (edited)

(Wikimedia Commons / Trevor Hurlbut https://bit.ly/3TnIENj)

Laziness affect doggos too.

A team of scientists from University of Washington has found out what causes the development of cognitive dysfunction in dogs.

According to the results, risk factors included age, physical inactivity, and a history of eye and ear disease.

It turned out that lazy dogs risk almost 6.5 times higher than active ones.

Since it is difficult to study Alzheimer's disease in humans, the mechanisms of development of neurodegenerative diseases are often studied in mice and rats.

Often these are transgenic animals with mutations that lead to accelerated aging or memory loss.

The problem is that such rodents cannot reproduce the full picture of Alzheimer's disease in humans

This means that the data obtained from them can be used with some restrictions.

This is where dogs can come to the rescue… again.

Aging dogs also suffer from a neurodegenerative pathology: the canine cognitive dysfunction.

Its symptoms and histological features are very similar to those seen in people with Alzheimer's disease.

It turns out that dogs with cognitive dysfunction can be a model organism for the study of Alzheimer's disease.

And this model will be closer to humans, because the disease develops naturally, without the help of genetic engineering.

THE STUDY
Now, a team led by Sarah Yarborough collaborated with the Dog Aging Project to collect and analyze behavioral and health data from 15,109 pet dogs.

Each owner filled out a questionnaire, where they indicated whether the pet had movement disorders, whether he recognized people, etc.

For each sign of dysfunction, the owner gave points. If a dog scored 50 or more points, the researchers considered it to be suffering from cognitive dysfunction.

The higher the score (the maximum is eighty), the more advanced the disease.

Among the dogs participating in the study, 1.4% scored 50 points, and therefore received a diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction.

Dog owners also reported on the age, lifestyle of their pets and their health status:

whether the dog was spayed or not
how physically active
whether there were any diseases during the life

Yarborough’s team tried to find a connection between the obtained data.

It turned out that every next year of life after 10 years increases the likelihood of the disease by 70%.

When they looked at not just age but all factors (breed, activity level, health status), they found that risk increased by 52% each year of life.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
A low level of physical activity increased the risk of developing the disease by 6.47 times, other things being equal.

Also, dogs with cognitive dysfunction were more likely to have eye and ear disease and a history of neurological disorders.

The authors of the study note that the correlations found are also valid for humans.

For example, visual impairment is also more common in Alzheimer's patients than in healthy individuals.

Also, physical activity helps improve cognitive function in neurodegenerative diseases.

This once again confirmed the assumption of scientists that dogs are suitable for the role of a model for human neurodegenerative pathologies.

So it'd be optimal if your four-pawed friend comes with you to your walking routine.

Source:

Scientific Reports: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15837-9
Eureka Alert: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/962493

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