Ozzie, a miniature Austrian shepherd smiles for his owner Elaina Emery, a staff member at the center for student involvement, during the ice cream social on Centennial Common on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
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.
“They are talking about addressing metabolism,” she says. “Metabolic changes that are age related happen at the peak of adulthood,” she says. “Starting around age 30, in terms of muscle mass, which is a very important tissue that contributes to metabolism and maintaining health in humans, we start to see that decline unless we are intentional about maintaining and grow muscle mass, like exercise would do.”
The STAY study, as it has been named, is being conducted by Loyal, a San Francisco-based veterinary company that developed the drug. It has partnered with more than 50 independent vet clinics across the country to distribute it.
Original Article: A new anti-aging pill for senior dogs just entered clinical trials. Could it one day help humans live longer?
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