Post by Kelley on Feb 7, 2005 14:29:50 GMT 9.5
Old dogs can benefit from new tricks, diet
Study shows beagles given enriched food and plenty of playtime are more youthful.
By Nicholas Bakalar
The New York Times
February 6, 2005
Old beagles, like old humans, act younger and smarter when they get the right diet and plenty of intellectual stimulation. A report published in the January issue of Neurobiology of Aging found that a diet rich in antioxidants combined with a stimulating environment slowed the canine aging process.
The scientists divided the 48 beagles, ages 8 to 11, into four groups, giving them an enriched diet, an enriched environment, neither or both. The diet was fortified with vitamin E, vitamin C and other antioxidants. The dogs in the enriched environment group were housed with kennel mates, exercised twice a week for 15 minutes and challenged with tasks like learning to distinguish between a white box and a black box.
By the end of the two-year trial, it was clear that the enriched diet alone and the enriched environment alone were each helpful in preventing decline. But the mental functioning of the dogs given a combination of enriched diet and stimulating environment was considerably higher than that of the dogs in the other three groups, the researchers found.
One author of the paper works for the company that sells the dog food used in the study.
Dr. William Milgram, the paper's lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, said that one of the dogs, Scamps, "was basically a stupid dog."
"He did about as poorly on our cognitive tasks as any of the dogs in the study," Milgram said.
Fortunately for Scamps, he was in the group that got the combination of enriched food and enriched environment. By the end of the study, Scamps was about average compared with the other dogs -- but not because he had gotten smarter.
"What happened," said Milgram, "was that he remained the same, while the dogs in the other groups showed expected deterioration."
Dogs, he said, are good models for the study of human aging. While they "are obviously not people," he added, "they have similar brain structures, develop similar brain pathologies, have similar nutritive requirements and live in similar environments."
Study shows beagles given enriched food and plenty of playtime are more youthful.
By Nicholas Bakalar
The New York Times
February 6, 2005
Old beagles, like old humans, act younger and smarter when they get the right diet and plenty of intellectual stimulation. A report published in the January issue of Neurobiology of Aging found that a diet rich in antioxidants combined with a stimulating environment slowed the canine aging process.
The scientists divided the 48 beagles, ages 8 to 11, into four groups, giving them an enriched diet, an enriched environment, neither or both. The diet was fortified with vitamin E, vitamin C and other antioxidants. The dogs in the enriched environment group were housed with kennel mates, exercised twice a week for 15 minutes and challenged with tasks like learning to distinguish between a white box and a black box.
By the end of the two-year trial, it was clear that the enriched diet alone and the enriched environment alone were each helpful in preventing decline. But the mental functioning of the dogs given a combination of enriched diet and stimulating environment was considerably higher than that of the dogs in the other three groups, the researchers found.
One author of the paper works for the company that sells the dog food used in the study.
Dr. William Milgram, the paper's lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, said that one of the dogs, Scamps, "was basically a stupid dog."
"He did about as poorly on our cognitive tasks as any of the dogs in the study," Milgram said.
Fortunately for Scamps, he was in the group that got the combination of enriched food and enriched environment. By the end of the study, Scamps was about average compared with the other dogs -- but not because he had gotten smarter.
"What happened," said Milgram, "was that he remained the same, while the dogs in the other groups showed expected deterioration."
Dogs, he said, are good models for the study of human aging. While they "are obviously not people," he added, "they have similar brain structures, develop similar brain pathologies, have similar nutritive requirements and live in similar environments."
