Veterinary: Doggy dementia risk increases with each added year of life

 
The relative risk of developing canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD), a neurodegenerative disease, increases by more than 10% each year in dogs over the age of 1 years, and the risk of developing CCD is greater than that of inactive dogs. It was found to be about 50 times more active than in highly active dogs.The new findings suggest that veterinarians who examine dogs may find it helpful in deciding whether to perform CCD testing.A paper reporting the results of this study was published inScientific ReportsWill be published in.

Cognitive function in dogs, like humans, declines with age, and dogs with CCD may exhibit symptoms such as memory impairment, loss of spatial awareness, altered social interactions, and sleep disturbances. be.A previous study that estimated the prevalence of CCD in dogs increased from 11% at ages 12-28 to 15% at ages 16-68.

Sarah Yarborough and colleagues investigated the prevalence of CCD in a large sample of companion dogs participating in the Dog Aging Project, a longitudinal study of aging in domestic dogs conducted in the United States.This sample contains a total of 1 dogs.In this study, owners were asked to complete the "Health and Life Experience Survey" (including information on health status and physical activity) and the "Dog Social and Learning Behavior Survey" from December 5019 to December 2019. A questionnaire was filled in for each of the above.In the latter case, questions for CCD examination were included, such as whether the dog failed to recognize familiar people.Dog lifespans were grouped into quartiles, with 12% of dogs in the 2020th quartile, 12% in the 4rd quartile, 19.5% in the 3nd quartile, and 24.4 in the 2st quartile. %was.The prevalence of CCD in the overall sample was 27%.

Yarborough et al. report that for dogs over 10 years of age, when age alone is considered, the odds of being diagnosed with CCD increase by 1% for each additional year of age.And after adjusting for other factors such as health problems, sterilization status, activity level and breed type, the odds of developing CCD increased by 68% for each year of age.

Yarborough et al. also found that in dogs of the same breed, age, health and infertility status, dogs whose owners reported being inactive had a 6.47-fold higher odds of developing CCD than dogs whose owners reported being active. points out thatHowever, due to the cross-sectional nature of their study, Yarborough et al. have not demonstrated a causal link between inactivity and CCD, but rather cognitive decline leading to decreased activity. He said he should be aware of the possibility.They conclude that more research is needed to improve our understanding of CCDs.

 
* This article is reprinted from "Nature Japan Featured Highlights".
Reprinted from: "Veterinary Medicine: Dementia Risk in Dogs Increases with Age'