Companion dogs: a model for investigating age-related disease in people
A new Open Access paper published in Pathobiology of Aging and Age-related Diseases demonstrates the value of using companion dogs as a model for human morbidity and mortality.
With the human population rapidly aging, the study of age-related disorders has become an important area of research. The companion dog has recently been identified as a promising model for exploring these complex conditions, as like humans they are phenotypically diverse, experience many of the same health problems in old age and share similar environments.
This study, conducted using VetCompass data, aimed to describe how aging influences the accumulation of concurrent disease conditions across various breeds of dog. The authors found that across all dogs, the number of disorders increased significantly with age, but not with size.
Jin K, Hoffman JM, Creevy KE, O'Neill DG, Promislow DEL. . Pathobiology of Aging and Age-related Diseases 2016. 6: 32276.
You may also be interested in:
-
New research from the аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø sheds light on common health issues in pet rabbits
Exploring the most common health problems in pet rabbits in the UK, new research from the Royal …