Degenerative Myelopathy Gene Identified - My final thoughts and opinion.

Lucy's voice is a blog by dogs for dogs, written by dogs.

I actually have not much business here hogging the blog with my opinion. I only intended to explain to you the nature of Windsor's illness because he does not mention it.

Then the stunning and exciting news hit: Researchers identified the gene responsible for degenerative myelopathy in dogs. The work was/is sponsored financially by AKC Canine Health Foundation and others.

I read the available facts, followed links and did my best to assess the consequences for our companion pets. Here are my final thoughts, at least for now:

Let us all rejoice in this significant discovery. Let us also thank those who contributed financially to this effort. Those of us who can afford it should contribute to this noble cause in order to assure that the research efforts continue to full fruition.

The good news is that pet veterinarians and pet guardians now have a tool that allows to test dogs for the presence of the gene. Identifying dogs at risk early allows for early counter measures, which could reduce the risk of acute illness considerably. In the future it might even prevent the onset of an acute outbreak in some cases. Since DM symptoms can be mimicked by other problems with a dog's musculoskeletal system, only an sinfully expensive MRI could give an reasonably accurate diagnosis in the past. A simple 60.00 dollar test now can do better!

At the same time, it poses a challenge to breeders everywhere. Any responsible breeder, especially those that raise dog breeds known for their propensity to this disease, should make it a mandate to test both parent dogs for the gene before entering them into the breeding pool. This is just common sense and not an anti-breeder action. However, I fully understand that breeders will be less than enthusiastic to support this course of action. The strongest opposition will naturally come from 'backyard breeders'. Their only agenda is money anyway.

Now to the bad news: Finding the gene responsible for degenerative myelopathy in dogs is not a cure for the disease. At this time it is only a diagnostic tool. Future generations of dogs will benefit from it. Those living now are not affected; their guardians will have to hope for equally good news from ongoing stem cell research.

If your companion suffers already from DM, the discovery will not save him or her. In due time and after much more research and experimentation, veterinary science will certainly develop a way to splice the malicious gene out of existence or replace it with one that does not mutate. But, I guess, we are talking years here and, not to forget, lots of money.

Right now, I encourage you to have your dog tested for the gene as soon as the tests are available to the general public. At least it will give you peace of mind (in case of a negative test) or alert you to required changes in the lifestyle and diet for your dog. The test is inexpensive; it is even free for dogs over 8 years old.

Additionally, use any of the many methods that claim to slow down progression of the disease, if not to cure it, to maintain a good quality of life for your companion for as long as possible. I have mentioned some of them in my first article about the subject. Who knows, your companion pet might just hang in there long enough to be saved by the bell.

Sometimes miracles happen and research progresses faster than expected to a successful treatment!

In this context we should not forget the work done at UC Davis. The School of Veterinary Medicine is engaged in important research right now with the goal to use the dog's own stem cells from bone marrow to repair damaged spinal cords and nerves. They had significant success in mice. Now it is time to apply the lessons learned to dogs. The AKC Canine Health Foundation is financially supporting this research effort as well.

I am confident that the concerted efforts of the two research facilities will find ways to control incidents of DM in dogs and to heal afflicted animals. Modern gene technology will in time most likely eliminate the mutating gene from the canine gene pool.

As promising, exciting and great as these news are, I regret from the bottom of my heart that my loyal companion, Windsor King MacArthur, will not be able to share in the fruits of this research. The destruction of his nerves and spinal cord is steadily making it's way towards the upper body.

Though he is almost exactly one year into his DM, he is still strong enough to prance his wheel chair up to every woman in sight to extort shamelessly pets and kudos. “Hi, my name is Windsor. Have you ever petted a Boxer in a wheelchair? You may pet me!”

You have not heard his last word yet!

PJJ
Publisher

Degenerative Myelopathy Gene

More detailed information.

For more information on the gene responsible for degenerative myelopathy in certain breeds and for testing information go here:
http://www.akcchf.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=248

Look for the article “AKC Canine Health Foundation Announces Genetic Test for Canine Degenerative Myelopathy” posted on May 08,2008.

There is some preliminary information on the test posted here: http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.net/ .

The side bar has a link to the University of Missouri-Columbia, College of Veterinary Medicine under "Degenerative Myelopathy" with very detailed and excellent information on this disease. On the same page you can also find a list of organizations that helped fund the gene project. Please consider these organizations for your donations.

I will report in more detail as soon as I have had time to study the new material.

PJJ

05/11/2008

Researchers find Gene responsible for Degenerative Myelopathy

Reader comment reveals preliminary details.

According to a Mike Wardok, the research team of Dr. Coats and Dr. Tonamura has succeeded in finding the gene responsible for degenerative myelopathy. Work is now underway to make a test available to the general public. The research was apparently done in cooperation and/or with funding from the Canine Health Foundation. I cannot wait to hear details.

Please read the comment posted at the end of my original article. Until I have found and corrected the reason for the crowded footer, Mike Wardok's note is hard to find.

The news are so good and exciting that they deserve a separate mention. I am positive that we will hear from Mike Wardok again as soon as more details become available. Mr. Wardok, please e-mail me. I would like to talk to you.

On Degenerative Myelopathy(2) - The unstoppable Killer?

The onset of degenerative myelopathy is almost imperceptible. A small delay in getting up, labored stair climbing, trouble balancing, reduced stamina and ability to jump, slight unsteadiness on the hind quarters and so on. Many, if not all, of these symptoms are also associated with other illnesses that affect the musculoskeletal system of dogs.

The diagnosis of degenerative myelopathy is therefore difficult to make. It is the result of a process of elimination rather than that of positive identification. Eventually, only a MRI will reveal the truth. This is a very expensive proposition.

It takes a veterinarian with extensive experience with this insidious disease to sort through the possibilities and successfully determine the presence of myelopathy.

Probably the best expert in the United States is an Associate Professor of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Small Animal Clinical Sciences, at the University of Florida. His name is Dr. Roger Clemmons. He studied the disease for many years, has researched and published extensively about it. He is now attempting to find a genetic DNA fingerprint of the illness that would allow to determine whether an individual animal is at risk for developing the illness.

In the course of his research he has researched and tested allopathic and alternative medicine, exercise regimens, diet and home cooking for the dog. Though many of these measures have the potential of slowing down the process of degeneration, they do not effectively treat the disease but only slow it down.

Dr. Clemmons has a website with excellent information on degenerative myelopathy, the symptoms, treatment courses, dietary advice and medicine that you can give your dog. This is by far the best and most knowledgeable source of information on spinal cord problems in dogs. Dr. Clemmons' myelopathy website tells you all you need to know about the disease. You find a treasure trove of information right here.

The onset of degenerative myelopathy can be anytime between four and 10 or more years. If untreated, the life expectancy of your dog will be around one year, in rare cases maybe a little longer. You can pretty much count on six to nine months from the time the dog starts dragging his hind legs.

With treatment the animals life expectancy increases to two or more years. Occasionally the illness goes into remission for a long period of time or permanently. But do not count on it.

Degenerative myelopathy is the Multiple Sclerosis of dogs. You can slow down the drumbeat of it's inexorable progress but not completely eliminate it. Not yet.

Much advanced research is done on spinal cord diseases and injuries in humans and on auto-immune diseases. The most promising approach, and the most publicized because of celebrity involvement, is obviously the use of stem cells to repair a damaged spinal cord and axons. Because of a controversy over the origin and the use of stem cells, there is still much debate over ethical implications. Therefore, the research process is not progressing as fast as it could without that debate and arbitrary limitations on the source of stem cells.

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is now bringing stem cell research to our canine friends. In July 2007, Dr. Richard Vulliet from UC Davis received a generous grant from the AKC Canine Health Foundation to research the use of stem cells for the treatment of degenerative myelopathy.

Research on mice indicates that beneficial effects can be achieved by injecting stem cells from an animal's own bone marrow into the affected areas. In mice these adult stem cells appear to transform themselves into new nerve cells. But will this also work in dogs?

Dr. Vulliet's research attempts to answer this question. He will prepare adult stem cells and then inject them into animals with degenerative myelopathy or dilated cardiamyopathy. If the clinical trials prove this therapy to be safe and stem cells to transform into new nerve cells, then he intends to take further steps to explore the effectiveness of this new course of action.

Should you have a dog with myelopathy or encephalopathy the research will most likely come to late to save your companion. But it might well save the lives of many good dog in the future.

You can find the press release of AKC on the Net. UC Davis posted a brief article on the subject on the same date.

AKC also has a short video in which Dr. Vullient describes the disease and his reasons for research in this area of veterinary medicine.

The same AKC site also has a very good and instructive video on how to deal with a dog with degenerative myelopathy.

As guardian and friend of Windsor I find it very difficult to see him whither away and to observe his steady march towards his final days. He is way beyond physical therapy, acupuncture and good food. At times he has bowel control problems, his front legs are beginning to weaken, he is voluntarily resting on his bed more and for longer periods of time. Hey, he is at least 13 years old. And that is old for a Boxer.

His fighting spirit is unbroken. He is full of life and vitality. He still loves and enjoys the company of people.

And he still adores women. Nothing in the world but death can stop him from greeting each and every single one of them enthusiastically. As long as I see his eyes light up and his ears perk, as long as he still prances up to a woman and does a Boxer dance in his wheelchair, I will gladly put up with the extra work.

Windsor King MacArthur is well worth it, every moment of his life and to his last breath.

I believe - no, I know - you have not heard the last from Windsor King MacArthur.

On Degenerative Myelopathy(1) - The Silent Killer

A Word from the Publisher

In the future you will hear a lot from Windsor, King MacArthur. He is and always has been a prolific writer. But most of all he is a Boxer dedicated to helping old, unwanted, maligned dogs. Dogs nobody wants because they are old and have a bad reputation. Dogs that languish in rescue shelters without much hope of being adopted.

Windsor has rehabilitated and helped find a home for over a dozen of them. Some of them so-called 'hopeless' cases.

You may hear him refer to his 'ailment' or his 'predicament'. He even might tell you that he has spent the last seven month in a wheelchair. But he will not tell you the nature of his disease. He does not believe that he is 'diseased' because, he says, he feels just fine.
“If I feel at ease, why am I 'diseased'?”, is the question he used to ask me most often.

Therefore, it is up to me to give you a brief background on his affliction.

King Windsor suffers from Degenerative Myelopathy. This insidious disease afflicts many of the large dog breeds, specifically German Shepherds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Belgian Sheepdogs, Old English Sheepdogs, Weimaraners, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Boxers, Labs and possibly the Great Pyrenees. There are other breeds also at risk of getting this illness.

Degenerative Myelopathy is considered a “progressive disease involving the spinal cord. It is thought to be an inflammatory, autoimmune disease, variable in its presentation and course, in which the immune system attacks the dog’s central nervous system. This attack leads to a loss of insulation around the nerve fibers (myelin) and of nerve fibers (axons).” (Marjorie Zimmerman)

Simply put, the disease breaks down the 'insulation' around the nerve fibers. That creates 'shorts' in the circuitry leading from the brain to the nerve endings in the limbs. When the insulating material on your power cord breaks down shorts between the two leads result. There will be sparks, erratic power and eventually a complete loss of power to the load.

This will happen to your dog with myelopathy. First, you will notice that he has trouble getting up or lying down, difficulties with balance and a loss of strength in his hind legs. There will be loss of muscle mass. Eventually, your dog will walk like a drunken sailor, staggering and falling. Exercising him more does not prevent loss of muscle mass – it just makes him feel more frustrated.

I tried all kinds of 'remedies' including diet. Nothing had a significant lasting effect. Windsor liked acupuncture. It calmed him down, strengthened his entire system, even appeared to give him improved control – for a day, rarely more. In other words, it did not really work.

No, it will not get better. It will only get worse. Though this insidious disease normally starts in the hind legs, it will progress forward, up the lower back towards the chest area and the front limbs. The dog will eventually end up completely paralyzed. Some dogs retain a little head movement.

What quality of life is that?

I noticed the first signs of degenerative myelopathy in Windsor about one year ago. At that time I did not know the nature of Windsor's affliction. He always had a hard time getting up from his bed or the couch. He also had difficulties climbing up stairs. He coped with the problem by using his front legs to pull himself up, step by step.

But a year ago I noticed that every time I used insecticide spray to keep fleas out, control mosquitos and flies, Windsor's had not only difficulties getting up but also found it hard to keep his balance. I cut out the insecticide and within 24 hours or so the 'drunken sailor' symptoms went away.

We managed to identify “pyrethrum” as the culprit. It is a very effective insecticide naturally found in chrysanthemums. It is also quite common in pet and household insecticides. By hindsight the causalities are quite clear: Pyrethrum affects the nervous system of insects. That makes it an excellent pest control agent. Unfortunately, it also acts on the nervous system of mammals. It can destroy or seriously damage nerve tissue.

Thus, if you happen to own a dog with a latent affinity for nerve damage, you should really not use insecticides with pyrethrum as active ingredient.

Though Windsor recovered from exposure to the insecticide, his latent myelopathy accelerated. By early July of last year, I had to use a sling to support his hind quarters. He still could move his hind legs but they did no longer bear his weight. Two months later he was completely down, unable to get up or to move on his own – other than dragging himself across the floor with his front legs. He became quite an efficient 'dragger'. When there was need for speed, he even managed a hop to propel himself forward.

Despite his illness Windsor insisted to go with me to animal shelters and rescue kennels to help evaluate other dogs for rehabilitation.

This is how he materialized his first wheel chair. It came to him as a gift in recognition of his contributions to the rehabilitation and rescue of numerous other dogs.

This wheelchair literally saved Windsor's life. It gave him freedom again, a new, bright world and the ability to go where before he could no longer go.

But most importantly and vital to him, he could saunter up to women again, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and say:

“Hi, my name is Windsor. Have you ever petted a Boxer in a wheel chair before?”

His success rate is phenomenal!

But I am digressing. Please read more about degenerative myelopathy, the absence of effective treatments and a new and promising development in the battle against it right here and soon.