I'd say this information certainly gives new meaning to the words, "man's best friend". Here's an article from the Science Section of
The New York Times that talks about an operation that was previously performed only on humans, but is now available to save the lives of dogs stricken with Cushings disease-thanks to the collaboration between a neurosurgeon and veterinarians in Los Angeles. According to the article, "so far, nine dogs and one cat that otherwise would have died have been treated suuccessfully." And it gets even better: because Cushings disease is fairly rare in humans, it's a difficult disease to study, but it occurs much more frequently in dogs. During the operation to remove tumors from the dog's pituitary gland, tissue samples are removed and studied, enabling researchers to "develop drugs to one day treat Cushings Disease in both humans and dogs."
Read the full article here and give your dog a treat for yet again helping their human companions!
www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/science/26obdog.html?ref=dogs
My contribution to the world of science is to make sure that my neck of the woods is free of those bushy-tailed vermin! Here I am with Bella, keeping watch over our backyard.
