For most dog owners, their four-legged friends are more than a trusty companion. They are practically members of the family.
Unfortunately, dogs just don’t live as long as humans, living on average from 10 to 13 years.
But what if there was a way to extend a dog’s lifespan by years with just a daily pill?
A first-of-its-kind anti-aging drug for dogs that targets the metabolic fitness process has now entered clinical trials, and the scientists behind the chewable pill say it could lay the groundwork for similar medical treatments designed for humans.
It has been observed that dogs make good models for human research because they have the same number of genes as humans and they can be diagnosed with the same diseases, according to the nonprofit Understanding Animal Research. Dogs have been used for human cancer research, duchenne muscular dystrophy research, and much more.
Carmen Castaneda Sceppa, dean of Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern and healthy aging expert, says she knows of research involving mice that has been conducted to study human metabolism and its impact on health and aging. This new drug and trial could help further our understanding of that process.
