Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Golden Retriever Study Focuses on Cancer in Dogs
A study involving 3,000 golden retrievers will seek to find ways
to prevent cancer in dogs.
The purebred participants will be followed for their entire
lives -- typically 10 to 14 years -- for genetic, nutritional and
environmental risk factors for cancer, the
Associated Pressreported.
Cancer is widely believed to be the leading cause of death in
older dogs, according to Rodney Page, the study's principal
investigator and a professor of veterinary oncology and the
director of the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State
University.
The Golden Retriever Lifetime Study -- the longest and largest
study conducted in dogs -- will focus on three types of cancer:
bone, lymphoma, and a blood vessel cancer called hemangiosarcoma,
the
APreported.
It's likely that the study will also provide new insight into
other dog diseases such as arthritis, hormonal and skin problems,
epilepsy and hip dysplasia, Page said.
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Study Will Test Drug for Alzheimer's Prevention
An experimental drug called solanezumab will be used in a large
U.S. government-funded study that will assess if it's possible to
prevent Alzheimer's disease in seniors at high risk for the brain
disorder.
Previous research found that the drug -- which is meant to help
clear the amyloid plaques that are a main cause of Alzheimer's --
did not help patients with moderate to severe disease, the
Associated Pressreported.
However, solanezumab did show some promise in people with milder
Alzheimer's and researchers believe it might help this group of
patients.
"The hope is we can catch people before they decline," Dr. Reisa Sperling, who is director of the Alzheimer's center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and will help lead the new study, told the AP.
The clinical trial will include 1,000 people ages 70 to 85 whose
brain scans reveal plaques but who do not yet show any signs of
dementia. The patients will receive monthly infusions of either
solanezumab or a placebo for three years.
The main objective of the study will be to slow the rate of the
patients' mental decline. Sperling said the research will be
conducted at 50 locations in the U.S. and possibly others in
Australia, Europe and Canada, the
APreported.
Solanezumab is an Eli Lilly & Co. drug.
About five million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's, which is
the most common type of dementia. Current medicines can easy
symptoms, but there is no known cure.
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