Research to help dogs live longer, healthier lives could unlock secrets for people to age better, too
CBS News • • health
Key Points:
- The Dog Aging Project, launched in 2014, studies over 50,000 dogs to understand aging and age-related diseases like dementia, aiming to benefit both dogs and humans due to similarities in brain structure and disease progression.
- Dogs serve as an ideal model because they share human environments, age faster, and naturally develop diseases such as cancer and dementia, providing valuable insights in a shorter timeframe than human studies.
- Early studies show that lifestyle factors, such as exercise and living with other dogs, affect disease risk, and experimental treatments like the drug rapamycin have demonstrated potential to reduce brain inflammation and cognitive decline in dogs.
- The project is conducting larger clinical trials to assess rapamycin's ability to extend healthy lifespan in dogs, while biotech companies like Loyal are developing aging-related drugs with the goal of eventually applying findings to human longevity.
- The research also highlights the emotional bonds between dogs and owners, exemplified by participants caring for dogs with dementia, underscoring the importance of love and care in managing age-related cognitive decline.
