Can Pets Suffer From Alzheimer’s?
Alzheimer’s is a neurological disease that has the human population over 65 years of age as the main risk group. However, scientists affirm that this pathology can also affect the animal kingdom; there are a number of symptoms that help detect it.
The first key signs in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s are memory losses, emotional problems and reasoning difficulties that, normally, will evolve as the patient ages until they reach the state of dementia.
Cognitive impairment is associated with the formation of plaques and tangles of two fibrous proteins, betaamylde peptide and tau protein, in the brain. However, it is still being investigated whether these structures are the focus of the disease or the result of a larger process.
Until now, animals had played a fundamental role both in the development of scientific models that would help understand the disease and in the therapy of those affected themselves. However, in recent years various wild animals have become the object of study.
New discoveries about Alzheimer’s in animals
Two years ago, several findings related to animal brain deterioration changed the course of Alzheimer’s research. It was in August 2017 when a group of scientists from Kent State University (USA) detected signs of the disease in chimpanzees.
The credibility of the study was based on the fact that it was the first time that it had worked with brain samples from primates that had died in the 90s. The brains, from the National Chimpanzee Brain Resource, presented more fibrous protein plaques the greater it was the degree of aging of the animal ; Thus, the analogy with the human species was shown.
Later, in October of that same year, another study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia revealed that it had found traces of the disease in wild dolphins. These animals, like killer whales and humans, have a long life expectancy that transcends beyond their fertile stage.
This possibility of reaching longevity was what motivated a group of scientists from the University of Oxford (UK) to study the predisposition of cetaceans to contract Alzheimer’s.
In their research, they analyzed the brains of dead dolphins that had been washed ashore by the tide of Spain. In them they found the fibrous protein formations characteristic of the disease, which was associated with old age that had led to natural death.
However, it should be noted that the conclusions obtained in both experiments lack data on the symptoms that these animals could have had in life. Therefore, his dementia cannot be fully confirmed.
Dementia in dogs and cats
Although the presence of Alzheimer’s has not been confirmed, these animals are susceptible to suffering a similar pathology, if not the result of the previous one, known as cognitive dementia.
Among the studies that show the tendency to contract the disease, the one carried out by the University of California-Berkeley stands out. In it, 62% of the dogs analyzed, with an age range between 11 and 16 years, presented one or more symptoms of dementia:
Some of the most common signs of this condition, known in dogs as canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) are:
- Alterations in the sleep cycle : the animal sleeps more hours during daylight hours, so it can wake up at night.
- Lack of interaction with the owner or other animals. The behavior of the animal stands out for its inactivity and demotivation.
- Lack of appetite.
- Urinary or fecal incontinence.
Given these symptoms, it is best to go to the vet, especially if they occur at an early age. However, the general advice before a normal physiological state is to encourage exercise, encourage play, socialize with other people or pets and extra care of food.
