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Posts with tag Dog
Posted Aug 17th 2007 8:21AM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Research
ABC News
reports on dogs who can identify cancer by sniffing, starting out with the story of Carolyn Withers, who claims that her Labrador retriever started jumping on her right breast and barking. She did a breast self-exam and found a lump. She had surgery and is now fine. Coincidence?
In one study cited in the report, dogs were trained to sniff different urine samples and distinguish between those from people with bladder cancer and control sample. Other studies have shown that dogs can distinguish between breath samples of those with lung or breast cancer and controls. Researchers are now trying to figure out what exactly the dogs are smelling to come up with more precise tests.
Harvey Pass, head of thoracic surgery at NYU Medical Center, thinks that dog-sniffing clinics might just happen one day. "Could you imagine you have the early detection clinic that's in a given area of the hospital, that people would come, and then they'd go into a room and there's a series of dogs, that then look at them and they either lie down, or they sit up, and just that signal may tell you what's going on. I wouldn't bet against it."
Posted May 26th 2007 8:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Diets, Obesity, Worthy Wisdom
I wrote recently about the
hidden amounts of sugar found in the foods we love so dearly. I learned all about this topic during my visit to Tucson's
Canyon Ranch -- a world renowned health and healing destination -- and this sweet lesson came right as I'd decided to rid my diet of as much sugar as possible. Learning that one can of soda houses 12 teaspoons of sugar and a typical container of fruit yogurt has eight sealed the refined sugar deal for me. No more, I say. It's just not worth it.
Now here comes the lowdown on fat. Some say the fat we eat is the fat we wear. Perhaps. But one thing is for sure -- fat kills.
That's Fit blogger Rigel Gregg wrote a May 24
post all about it, documenting five ways wearing fat can kill us -- it strains our heart and raises our insulin, leading to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, for example. Now I'm here to clue you in on the fat hiding in more of our favorite foods.
Here goes.
Continue reading Worthy Wisdom: Fat in hiding
Posted Apr 21st 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Cancer Survivors, Thought for the Day
I'd never met Lucy. And I don't know how she died. I do know she was a loving pet for my friend Adriene, a breast cancer survivor diagnosed with the disease at the same time I was told the dreaded beast was living in my body.
I've never met Adriene. We've communicated only through e-mail and letters and packages and holiday cards. Still, we have a friendship, anchored in shared experience.
Through our friendship, I've come to learn that Adriene and Lucy were the best of friends who relied on one another through good times and bad. Their love was mutual, strong, and evident to those who knew the pair.
Lucy passed away on Monday. I was notified by Adriene who directed me to a new post on her
photo journal.
Think about this, a message from Adriene:
Lucy was sent to the heavens on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. I was lucky to have her in my arms as I gave her over to her spiritual playmates who will take care of her and give her the room to play and be the loving dog that she was here on earth. I was blessed to have Lucy as my constant companion. She traveled the U.S. trekking cross-country three times, traveled up and down the eastern seaboard, road the subways of Boston, and graced the pages of American Photography magazine not once, but twice. She was a famous dog who had a reputation for the devilish behavior she possessed. We all loved her for the spirit she was and I will always respect the gifts she gave me as she carried my soul from illness to wellness. Rest in Peace, Lucy. I will always keep you close to my heart.
Posted Mar 15th 2007 3:30PM by Kristina Collins
Filed under: All Cancers, Cancer Survivors, Head and Neck cancer
Lance Mackey beat cancer back in 2001 and on Tuesday he won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Nome, Alaska. Mackey was diagnosed with neck cancer in 2001 and received surgery and radiation for his treatment.
Lance owns a kennel named Lance Mackey's Comeback Kennel. He indeed made a comeback, he has back to back wins in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
Mackey's status as a cancer survivor and champion musher will inspire other people with cancer, said Christine Schultz, 42, of Nome, a medical social worker who stood out in subzero temperatures with co-workers from Norton Sound Regional Hospital to watch Mackey cross the finish line. "I think it gives people hope they can overcome cancer and live their dreams," she said.
Don't ever doubt I can't do something," Mackey said in Nome after his win. "I lived through cancer."
Posted Jan 24th 2007 11:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: All Cancers, Research, Stress Reduction, Daily news
A U.K. researcher confirms what many dog lovers already know -- dogs are good for your health.
Apparently, dog owners are generally healthier than non-pet-owners. They have lower blood pressure and cholesterol, suffer fewer minor ailments, and stray from serious medical problems too. Dogs can prevent their owners from getting sick, help them recover more quickly when they do fall ill, and they can even warn of cancer, heart attack, epileptic seizures, and hypoglycemia, says Dr. Deborah Wells from the Canine Behaviour Centre of Queens University in Northern Ireland.
Wells, whose study is published in the British
Journal of Health Psychology, says dogs buffer us from stress -- a well-known cause of illness -- and promote general well-being. Owning a dog leads to increased physical activity and increases development of social interactions -- both of which minimize stress and contribute to human health.
While Wells found those who own both dogs and cats benefit from their pets, dog owners enjoy improved health for much longer than cat owners.
Posted Dec 30th 2006 12:00PM by Kristina Collins
Filed under: Alternative Therapies, Animal, Stress Reduction, Hospice, Cancer Survivors
A poodle named Lucy refuses to leave her owners side and has become very popular with the nurses and visitors. The patient Maggie Bellamy is staying at the hospice while she is undergoing cancer treatments.
Lucy likes to snuggle up on the rug near Maggie's bed and goes for short walks around the grounds. Ms. Bellamy said "I thought it was incredible when I was told that Lucy could come and stay with me in the hospice. She frets over me, but is very well behaved and everyone fell in love with her. She is good therapy for other patients too."
Lucy is the only dog you will see at this hospice. Dogs belonging to Pets as Therapy also pop in with their owners to visit patients.
Fraser Meek, manager of the hospice in-patient unit, said "We are happy to welcome a patient's pet to be bought along either for a visit, or to stay in the room where possible. Visits from gentle pets help the patients relax and add to the homely atmosphere of the hospice".
What a nice story!
Posted Sep 4th 2006 10:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Cancer events, Research, Events, Cancer Survivors
At the end of the September 30
FACTors Breast Cancer Educational Conference in Tampa, Florida, there will be a passing of the torch ceremony to celebrate the end of Ovarian Cancer Month and the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But first, conference participants can gather a whole lot of information on a whole lot of topics at this 19th annual conference, hosted by the Tampa-based H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. The conference -- with a registration fee of just $25 -- includes breakfast, lunch, an art exhibit, and a variety of educational sessions which span topics such as healthy eating and exercise, genetic connections, fertility, sexuality, early onset menopause, caregiving, relaxation, communicating with children about cancer, and shaping the future.
Actress and breast cancer survivor Lynn Redgrave's daughter, Annabel Clark, will deliver the keynote address and will discuss her book,
Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery From Breast Cancer. There will be exhibits and door prizes and a special lunch guest too -- breast cancer survivor Dee Dee Jonrowe, the world's top female dog sledder and 23-year veteran of the Alaskan Iditarod race.
From 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on September 30, the topic of breast cancer will be top priority for all who attend this conference in Tampa. And then the next day -- which kicks off the month of October -- breast cancer will be top priority all over the country when Breast Cancer Awareness Month commences. And we pay special attention to this disease that already gets a lot of special attention. Fortunately.
Posted Aug 10th 2006 3:16PM by Dalene Entenmann
Filed under: Research, Pet Cancers, Magazines, Daily news
In studying a cancer found in dogs, researchers were able to establish that tumor cells can become parasitic and transmitted from one dog to another by way of sex, licking, biting or sniffing cancerous areas of an affected dog.
University College London researchers state they were able to trace back at least 200 years the origin of the first venereal tumor (CTVT) to a wolf or other ancient dog breed.
Not only does the discovery make this cancer, known as Sticker's sarcoma, the oldest cancer studied, as it has been continuously passed down for hundreds of years, it also allows scientists to gain a greater understanding of how cancer can progress.
"Our results, based on several independent genetic markers in tumor-bearing dogs living on five continents, show that CTVT arose from a common ancestral cancer cell," Weiss said. "The cancer escaped its original body and became a parasite transmitted from dog to bitch and bitch to dog until it had colonized all over the world." Early in its evolution, the clone diverged into two separate lineages, each of which now has a broad geographic range, explained Robin Weiss of University College London.
The study appears in the August 11, 2006 issue of the journal
Cell.
Posted Aug 7th 2006 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Leukemia, Blogs, Daily news, Celebrity in memoriam, Celebrity news
Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher died Saturday of complications from a recent bone marrow transplant. Her health concerns began three years ago when she was diagnosed with polycythemia vera -- a rare disease that causes bone marrow to produce excess blood. Then last winter, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her subsequent bone marrow transplant on May 16 cleared her system of cancer. But she developed graft-versus-host disease -- where transplanted cells start attacking the digestive system. A fever, a change in her potassium level, and a trip to intensive care prompted her husband to write on his
blog Friday of her condition. He reported that if she remained stable, she would return to her previous hospital room and would work on recovering. But sadly, Butcher did not recover.
Butcher dominated the 1,100-mile sled-dog race from Anchorage to Nome in the late 1980s and brought national attention to the grueling competition. She won the 1986 race and became the second female champion -- and then won again in 1987, 1988, and 1990. She finished in the top four through 1993. Butcher also made headlines in 1979 when she helped drive the first sled-dog team to the 20,320-foot summit of Mount McKinley -- the highest peak in North America.
Butcher, who ran her last Iditarod in 1994, grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was married with two daughters -- ages 10 and five. Butcher was 51 years old.
Posted Jul 11th 2006 8:00AM by Dalene Entenmann
Filed under: Childhood Cancers, Chemotherapy, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Pet Cancers, Daily news
When six-year-old Emily Kearney was diagnosed with
Burkitt's lymphoma, her parents thought a pet might cheer her up after she spent five months in the hospital undergoing intensive cancer treatments. Casper, a Yorkshire Terrier, became a dearly loved pet companion and comfort to Emily when she came home.
Emily, now 12, and cancer-free, has new cancer worries. Her beloved dog has been diagnosed with the same cancer she had six years ago.
Casper has been diagnosed with lymphoma and is currently undergoing the exact same cancer treatments she had to go through -- receiving the same chemotherapy drug, called cyclophosphamide.
Two weeks ago, Emily's mother Jackie, found the lump in Casper's neck. Both parents said they just broke down when the vet gave them Casper's diagnosis. Emily is heartbroken and scared her beloved pet is going to die from the same disease she fought so hard against as a little girl. Her parents are telling her Casper can make it too, and the family is now cheering on little Casper, who once cheered on a little girl through the same cancer.
Posted Jun 29th 2006 5:30PM by Vicki Blankenship
Filed under: Animal, All Cancers
The National Cancer Institute started a program about a year-and-a-half ago that allowed pet owners to enroll their dogs in clinical trials when conventional treatment wasn't working. The idea was to stop giving cancer to animals, start trying to help animals who developed cancer naturally, and help humans in the process. The Comparative Oncology Program (COP) is helping change the controversial issue of medical research involving animals.
Dogs develop many of the same kind of cancers that humans develop and cancer in dogs also metastasizes more similar to humans than lab mice. Dogs are also closer in weight to humans and share the same environment. The types of cancer in dogs that could translate into results for humans include osteosarcoma, breast and prostate cancer, colon, melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, head and neck carcinoma, and soft-tissue sarcoma.
Conventional cancer treatments can cost between $4,000 and $7,000 for a dog and sometimes it can be much higher. The COP trials are expected to be very low-cost, or free. Most of the pet owners expense will be for the initial evaluation. Someone whose dog is diagnosed with cancer may be referred by their veterinarian to a local veterinary teaching hospital and if that hospital is a member of the COP consortium and is participating in a clinical trial for that dog's cancer diagnosis, the owner will have the option of enrolling their pet.
The COP Web site features a list of all of the trials sponsored at the various consortium hospitals.
Posted Jun 19th 2006 5:18PM by Dalene Entenmann
Filed under: Politics, Celebrity news
Oh this is lame. The AFL is fining
players for wearing yellow armbands in a game as a show of support for a fellow teammate who is battling cancer. Here's the really lame part. The AFL said if they let this team do it then they will have to let the other teams do it too. And their point is? So the AFL is going to fine the team $20,000 and then donate the money to cancer charity. In this case, not a redeeming gesture. When Essendon requested permission to wear the armbands in a show of support for player Ramanauskas, who is fighting for a third time of cancer recurrence, the AFL denied the request -- probably based on the fear that if you let one person do it you know what is going to happen next --
everyone is going to want to do it. It's a stupid rule. I am guessing that's what the players were thinking when they went ahead and wore the armbands during the game against Melbourne at Telstra Dome.
It's not like players haven't worn armbands during a game. Once a player wore a black armband in a game in memory of his pet dog who had died, while another player wore a black armband in memory of his family's pet goat. Serious -- that is what the news is reporting happened in the past.
Yeah, if I was one of the players, I woulda worn the yellow armband yesterday too.
Posted May 30th 2006 9:00AM by Vicki Blankenship
Filed under: Animal
Spotted Calamity Jane, my Dalmatian, was 3 1/2-years-old when she was determined to have breast cancer. I spotted this when checking her breasts after she was near completion of breast feeding her litter of 11 pups. At that time my vet was not concerned that the little marble sized lump would turn out to be cancer thinking it was probably where a pup had bit her harder than normal while nursing.
I had already made the decision to have Cally spayed after this one and only litter, so I gave the go ahead to have my vet remove the lump in her breast and biopsy it for safety. We were all shocked to find out the results from the tumor biopsy was indeed cancer. I questioned whether chemo or any other kind of treatment was necessary and my vet felt like all of the lump had been removed and that there should not be any alarm for it to grow or spread.
Continue reading Pets: dog breast cancer survivorship story
Posted May 30th 2006 8:30AM by Vicki Blankenship
Filed under: Chemotherapy, Animal, Bone Cancer, Pet Cancers
Having a dog or cat or any other pet diagnosed with cancer is just as hard as having a friend or family member diagnosed. We have to determine the treatments and procedures since they can't speak up. A common cancer in dogs and cats is bone cancer. Osteosarcoma is the most common long bone tumor in dogs and cats. Often it is mistaken for arthritis or pulled muscles or stiffness in its early stages and so is not diagnosed sometimes until drastic measures have to take place. Cats and dogs differ in the way bone cancer matures and how treatment should be administered. Because of the rapid nature of osteosarcoma, treatment should be sought as soon as possible. The only trouble is that the most common sign -- lameness and pain -- usually happens when it is already taken firm hold.
Continue reading Pets: bone cancer in dogs and cats
Posted Apr 28th 2006 5:36PM by Dalene Entenmann
Filed under: Alternative Therapies, Melanoma, Prevention
"I would not like to be in a canoe on the river because it was so big and wide; and yet here I am. I
guess I have gradually become accustomed to the size. There are a lot of things in life like that. If you focus on all
the potential problems, there are many things that you will not even try to begin. However, once you get involved in
doing something, the problems are often not as bad as you first thought. The key is to just take each problem as it
comes and do not be obsessed with the problems not yet here." -- Mississippi Howl
Allan Roden was
diagnosed with melanoma that had spread. Dianne, his wife of twenty-seven years took a sabbatical from work to spend
time with Allan during his last months of life. They had both shared a dream to paddle the length of the Mississippi
river, but now it looked like a dream too late to be realized. With nothing left to lose, more than he was about to
lose, which was everything, he signed up for a clinical trial testing a new immune therapy. He recovered. The dream of
the river was about to come true. Allan and Dianne Roden, with Annie, their Australian Cattle Dog, set off for a river
adventure in a small home-made, cedar-strip canoe. As they traveled the Mississippi river, they kept journals, the
result being a book called Mississippi Howl.
"With the high water level, campsites were really hard
to find again today. We finally found one that was on an island with a sign that said, “Posted DMPD”. Damn
if I know what that means. We decided it meant “Dumb Morons Permitted if Desperate” and stopped to set up
camp. So far we have had no problems." To read more excerpts and see photos of the trip, visit
Dianne's webpage.
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