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Anti-aging drug for dogs moves closer to gaining FDA approval
- deadbabe 3y agoWhy would any creature have hormones to accelerate aging as opposed to just letting the body wear out naturally with use?
- Waterluvian 3y agoProbably just a side effect of some other advantageous trait. Getting old or not is probably not relevant for reproduction.
- loudmax 3y agoThis is pure speculation, but maybe it's beneficial in some circumstances to make way for the younger generation? Natural selection doesn't necessarily favor genes that optimize the health of a particular animal. Natural selection favors genes that optimize for more copies of themselves, at whatever cost to their current carriers. Perhaps under some scenarios of canine evolution, the fittest genes might have been ones that selected for higher turnover than would happen if bodies wore out naturally.
- idopmstuff 3y agoBear in mind dogs are pretty unnatural creatures at this point - we've done so much breeding that you can't really assume any natural forces apply to their development at this point. After all, why would any creature develop a facial structure that makes it hard to breathe (like bulldogs, pugs, etc.)? The answer is because humans are selfish.
- Der_Einzige 3y agoI want tail docking to be banned so bad. Corgis have tails and they look like foxes when they're kept! So beautiful! like a friendly fox.
- nonameiguess 3y agoI don't know what the mechanism for accelerating aging is in this case and it doesn't say, but IGF-1 serves a lot of purposes and it is ubiquitous among at least all mammals and I'm sure other animals I'm not familiar with. It is necessary for growth and healing and is what causes infants to grow and mature into adults. As with just about any molecule synthesized by a body, when its effect on mortality has been studied in humans, being either too low or too high are both associated with greater mortality risk. I'm guessing it's probably the same with dogs. Having higher growth hormone levels makes the larger breeds larger but also shortens lifespan. Nonetheless, being larger can clearly be important for a predator, especially in very cold regions where most available prey like caribou and bison and what not are very large. Shorter life might even be evolutionarily advantaeous on its own in places with food scarcity that can't sustain large predator populations. The old die to make way for the young as they'd otherwise starve them out.
- huytersd 3y agoBecause the dogs we made aren’t naturally selected. We heavily selectively bred for many superficial phenotypes so it’s not strange to see side effects like this.
- graphe 3y agoWolves can live 15 years. Big dogs are just inbred small dogs with pituitary gland overgrowth.
- I_Am_Nous 3y agoKind of seems like a mercy, especially depending on what part of your body would wear out first. Would be interesting to study since we know stress also seems to increase aging, so I wonder if a stressful event triggers the aging process as a way to reduce suffering in the aging individual. Similarly there are cases where long married spouses die pretty closely to one another and I could see the stressful loss of your partner increasing your aging factor in such a case.
- apwell23 3y ago> body wear out naturally with use Body doesn't `wear out` from use. Yes there are overuse injuries and overuse arthritis . Aging related `wear out` has nothing do with use. Infact, opposite is often true. Its unfortunate that doctors refer to age related joint issues as 'wear and tear' issues.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> Why would any creature have hormones to accelerate aging Octopuses trigger rapid aging after giving birth from their “optic gland,” which “undergoes dramatic changes to produce more pregnenolone and progesterone, maternal cholestanoids, and 7-DHC during the stages of decline” [1]. (”Some females in captivity even seem to intentionally speed along the death spiral, banging into the sides of the tank, tearing off pieces of skin or eating the tips of their own tentacles” [2].) When the optic gland was removed, the affected females “abandoned their eggs, resumed feeding, and some even mated again.” Leading theories include octopuses being “cannibals” having evolved “a biologically programmed death spiral may be a way to keep mothers from eating their young.” Alternatively, octopuses are close to biologically immortal, “so eliminating hungry adults keeps the octopus ecosystem from being dominated by a few massive” members. TL; DR Programmed death is biologically precedents. There is evidence it is at work in most animals, including humans. [1] https://news.uchicago.edu/story/what-causes-octopus-death-spiral-new-study-points-changes-cholesterol-production https://news.uchicago.edu/story/what-causes-octopus-death-sp... [2] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180925140402.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180925140402.h...
- ksoped 3y agoReally wish this wasn't fox news ...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- gedy 3y agoWell this is canid news
- burrish 3y agohahahaha
- scoopertrooper 3y agoHere is a press release: https://loyalfordogs.com/posts/loyal-announces-historic-fda-milestone-for-large-dog-lifespan-extension-drug https://loyalfordogs.com/posts/loyal-announces-historic-fda-...
- consumer451 3y agoIs there an API for lowest-common-news-link, i.e., source? If not, there really should be. I would be a customer.
- stronglikedan 3y agoIt doesn't matter. It doesn't make it any less true. I really wish politics didn't dominate everything lately.
- digging 3y agoBut Fox News is an untrustworthy source known for intentionally spreading misinformation, even if it mostly reports true things. This piece probably is true but I actually wouldn't take anything from them without a second (ideally, primary) source.
- jurassicfoxy 3y agoIn addition, if anyone has an older dog, they should also immediately look into Librela: https://www.zoetisus.com/products/dogs/librela/ https://www.zoetisus.com/products/dogs/librela/ This is a miracle drug that pretty much instantly changed both my (older) dogs' lives. Every vet tech I've spoken to (it's a monthly injection) agrees it is amazing.
- spchampion2 3y agoI'm just past the second dose on my older border collie, and it has been a good thing for him. But I would hesitate to call it a miracle. He's somewhat more active and flexible, but he still has some trouble climbing steps and stairs. He also loves the cold, and he's always more active in the winter anyway. I would say he's close to the level he was last winter instead of slightly declined. That's great, but not miraculous. We'll stick with the regimen and see if he continues to improve. I'll upgrade my judgement if he starts climbing stairs again.
- pmx 3y agoLibrela gave us another year with our old girl and allowed to her to walk again. It was absolutely life-altering for her and we're forever greatful for the extra time we had with her because of it. Some are saying it's not a miracle drug but honestly, a monthly injection that gave us back our girl for a year is 100% a miracle to me.
- mhb 3y agoWhat does it cost?
- jurassicfoxy 3y agoI'm paying something like $100 CAD per month, I think? Dog is 33 kg.
- mikestew 3y ago$99/month. (Redmond, WA, USA)
- richbell 3y ago
- fallingknife 3y agoDo we really need to be using up government resources doing drug approvals for dogs? It takes so long to get human drugs approved. Let's use the resources there and let the market sort out what works for animals.
- idopmstuff 3y agoHow would you let the market sort out what works in terms of life-extension drugs? How would you measure that without well-structured trials? People love their dogs and are willing to spend large amounts of money on them - how do you prevent people from selling them snake oil? On top of that, we're talking about the first-ever drug approved solely for the purpose of life extension - yes it's in dogs, but it's a topic being heavily pursued in humans as well. While the approach taken here isn't directly relevant to people, one can imagine that developing this class of drugs in animals could lead to useful information on how to do so in humans, but only if there's actual evidence to prove their validitiy.
- fallingknife 3y agoI propose treating all animal medication as supplements. Safety (including safety when consumed as food for livestock medications) is required but not efficacy. And given the fact that people have the legal authority to euthanize their pets on demand, it seems pretty silly that we are spending millions of dollars in taxpayer money ensuring they don't get fed snake oil.
- ScottEvtuch 3y agoThat doesn't really follow. I have the legal authority to pay a junk yard to smash my car into a tiny cube, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be protected from auto body shops selling me fake repairs and non-functional parts.
- fallingknife 3y agoAnd body shops don't have to go through a years long and multiple million dollar certification process. They can open up pretty much with no oversight and you are free to sue if they rip you off. Sounds like this model would work just fine for dog medicine too.
- drakonka 3y agoIf anyone here has any anti-aging resources for cats, I'd love to see them. I have two 9-year-old Maine Coons whom I'm supplementing with glucosamine for joint and urinary health, and wonder if there's more I could be doing. Edit: Getting some great tips on core diet and health down below! Luckily we're already doing most of those, and I guess I'm largely wondering about advancements in supplementation or preventative medicine (of course everything would have to be considered with a veterinarian). Here are other basic things we already do: * My most important thing is not giving any dry food. Especially since one of my cats is prone to urinary problems and gets sick within just a couple of weeks if given even a partially-dry diet. But even if he wasn't prone to it, with what I've learned over the years I would not feed any cat dry food. * We eat partly wet partly homemade raw (but the latter needs to come with careful research and caveats since cats have very delicate nutritional needs). * Keep water bowls away from food and switch bowls/fountain once in a while for novelty. * Indoor-only and we go for walks on a harness for enrichment when the weather is nice.
- antisthenes 3y agoMake sure they drink enough water. May have to get them a water fountain or a wider bowl, and make sure it's fresh. Aside from that, Maines are already a very long lived generally healthy breed.
- drakonka 3y agoGood point; despite fountains and large bowls mine tend to not drink much except when the male is on urinary-specific food that ups his thirst (he was sick as a kitten which made him prone to urinary issues). I've read that cats in general don't tend to naturally drink much and are more used to getting moisture from their food. So I make sure they only eat wet and raw food, which provides extra moisture.
- post_break 3y agoRaw food is the biggest thing. One of our cats has IBD and was about to be put down, raw food completely reversed it and now he’s better than before with no signs of slowing down.
- ramesh31 3y agoSo the goal is to make big dogs live longer... by reducing the hormone that makes them big? Couldn't we just adopt healthier, proportional, longer lived dogs? Or do people just really want to see how miserable a 15 year old Great Dane would be?
- balls187 3y agoUntil you’ve owned a Great Dane and see how much joy they bring you and your family, I don’t think you could understand why there is a desire to help their longevity.
- virgildotcodes 3y agoWould a mutt have brought you and your family any less joy?
- AlgorithmicTime 3y ago[dead]
- boppo1 3y agoI think he just means 'large dog with particular temperament'. I've had a few large dogs of various breeds and there is a wide spectrum.
- Der_Einzige 3y agoGiant dogs are almost universally known for their gentle temperament and superior qualities for families. They are treasures, regardless of how they age.
- AlexErrant 3y agoDiscussion from 12 days ago, 187 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38447491 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38447491
- dang 3y agoThanks! Macroexpanded: Reasonable expectation of effectiveness for large dog lifespan extension - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38447491 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38447491 - Nov 2023 (186 comments)
- mildmotive 3y ago[flagged]
- xutopia 3y agoI'm not sure what your comment is doing on Hacker News.
- wiz21c 3y agoAfter transhumanism, here comes transanimalism. I understand one may really like its dog/cat/... but, why not just accept time passes ? (I've lost a goldfish and I was not happy, proper burial helped a lot)
- appplication 3y agoTime passes far too fast for dogs. Many do not even make it to 10.
- lm28469 3y agoAccepting it is 10 times less stressful than fighting it. Also most of these issues are brought by dumb breeding practices...
- wwwtyro 3y agoYes, simply accepting the inadequacy of our current technology is always going to be easier than working to improve it. It's also going to lead to infinitely less progress. Humanity is eventually going to be able to extend lifespans indefinitely. Whether that happens sooner or later depends on how many people decide not to go gentle into that good night.
- lm28469 3y ago> Humanity is eventually going to be able to extend lifespans indefinitely Can you prove that ? Or is it just wishful thinking ?
- HEmanZ 3y agoComparing a family dog to a goldfish is such utter nonsense that you have to be a troll.
- carstenhag 3y agoOn the other hand the absolute majority here (and most in western culture) eat at least something with meat every 1/2 days, and that meat comes from animals that are as intelligent and/or cuddly as dogs.
- ornornor 3y agoSeveral vets have all told my parents to get mutts rather than purebreds because they have so much less problems. The genetics are just healthier and stronger because they’re a mix, instead of inbreeding for generations. Ditto for cats.
- boppo1 3y agoGood move unless it includes pit bull. Pitbull mixes are not appropriate for family pets and anyone who says otherwise is lying to you or themselves. Please protect your loved ones and stay away from pitbulls and pitbull mixes. They are total sweet hearts, right up until they're not. Edit: I too was once a 'how it's raised' apologist. After a number of experiences and some research, my mind is concluded. Someone in the replies was kind enough to post papers, but if you don't have time for reading, this will express the overall point that these dogs are land-mines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9ZGEvUwSMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9ZGEvUwSMg If you think you can readily find 10+ reports of 'unprovoked lethal violence with no prior history of violence' for another breed, please, be my guest.
- hnbad 3y agoThe problem with this widespread belief is that there is no such thing as a "pit bull". Or rather, there are many and some of the breeds are entirely unrelated. Likewise news stories are usually thin on the specifics and fail to identify exact breeds or may mislabel them entirely. Generally most people shouldn't have dogs because they lack the time and energy to properly train them (or in the case of adult dogs: to compensate for their lack of training). But you're right that there are some dog breeds that are more prone to biting accidents than others: but if you go by the actual numbers your advice should also explicitly apply to German shepherds.
- ltbarcly3 3y agoPitt Bulls are responsible for far more attacks. Pitt breeds are responsible for basically 100% of attacks on their own families.
- 3y ago
- Eumenes 3y agoI recently visited nyc and was hanging out in central park. I saw so many huge dogs, huskies/german shepards/retriever/etc, which made me sick to my stomach. These poor animals need space. They are not biologically designed to be an accessory for the urban rich. Being held hostage in 300 sq foot apartments while their vapid owners are working in some office or on zoom calls all day is borderline torture. These drugs will just prolong said torture.
- stephenitis 3y agomaybe, they exercise their dogs and walk often? I've seen both city and suburban dogs treated well and poorly. I do think it's harder to manage a dog's existence in a crowded city's parks.
- Eumenes 3y agoya, I don't doubt that some are exercised well and often but being walked around a concrete jungle is hardly a substitute for big open spaces.
- celinehh94 3y agoI'm the Founder/CEO - appreciate the excitement! :) Lot's of work to do still, but a very important step for dogs and for lifespan extension pharmaceuticals.
- ben30 3y agoI’d like to point out the amusing coincidence of Fox News reporting on a story related to dogs.