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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - research question....
| I have a question and wonder if anyone knows if this has been researched. Yesterday talking with our Vet, he told us when he first became a Vet 32 years ago, dogs always responded to treatement for AIHA. We of course asked what has changed, and he responded good question.... Has anyone heard this before, and does anyone have any ideas why? It just seems to me if this is the case, then they should be doing reseach to find out what has changed. Did the prednisone change, was it a different drug... is it due to our dogs diet... environmental changes, etc.? Julie and Aiyana |
| Julie IL |
| Julie, The simple straightforward answer is... dog breeding... line breeding of pure bred dogs. Of course it is more complex than this, but Dr. Dodds can explain how this complicates many health issues facing canines today. This line breeding magnifies passing down genetic faults. A prominent example is how Dalmations have an enormously large chance of being born deaf. This genetic fault is carried with their particular coat coloring. The other factor that she would propose is greater exposure to negative environmental factors. This includes stuff like pesticides, pollutants on the ground, in our water and air. Dogs interact with their environment without clothing and so contact things constantly. Food has changed significantly in 32 years. Prior to the 1950's there was very little "kibble" available. Dogs ate more regular food and very little processed food. Processing food can rob it of nutrients. It also changes the dog's diet from one of mostly meat into one of mostly cereal grains. A lifetime of an only" adequate" diet can impact a dog's overall health. A big driving factor in health problems with dogs that Dr. Dodds points to are the impact that hormones have on the dog's immune system. Think of how estrogen in humans is a modulator of breast cancer. She is also studying how autoimmune thyroid disease is becoming a much more important factor in canine diseases. Vaccinations have become more prominent and plentiful. The big killers: distemper, parvo, rabies, can be nearly eliminated as risks with vaccinations. Drug manufacturers in general have not followed through with studies to show how many years these original shots are effective so the thought pattern became, "re-vaccinate every year." It wasn't until recently, through the efforts of vets (and universities) like Dr. Dodds that it was theorized that these vaccinations may have a lifetime effect (as many vaccinations in humans do!). The recommendation of nearly all veterinary universities is now a three year cycle for vaccinations. Certainly not the one year cycle, but alas, it's still probably too much. The universities can make recommendations for vaccination protocols, but vets can still do what they think is best. Immunity is sometimes tough to understand because it is very complex. But let's put it in simple terms. The immune system has a memory "like an elephant." Once it is exposed to something, it will remember for a lifetime. If the health of the human or dog is good, any time it is exposed to that thing it will mount a defense. So what happens when you re-vaccinate against distemper for instance? Well, there is already a memory there for this disease. The body has to mount a defense to this vaccination to protect against an "exposure." It has to work overtime to fight this. This puts stress on the dog's system. You don't make the dog "more" resistant to distemper and in fact the body will most likely destroy any of the vaccination that it finds. I guess it is kind of like starting little fires in your home every now and then to make sure the fire department will come and put them out if you call. So how does this relate to AIHA? Activating the immune system with vaccinations can alert it too much, it may go looking for trouble... and then find it. It becomes confused, not recognizing the things that are considered "self" and attacking them. Red blood cells can carry markers that identify themselves. They can also carry other markers for things like tick diseases for instance. The immune system sees these markers and may attack the red blood cell to rid it of the tick disease. But it may suddenly decide that these other markers that define "red blood cell = self" are faulty and then attack rbc too! Well, very complex topic and if you are interested, Dr Dodds has written an excellent paper called "The Canine Immune System and Disease Resistance" that will explain this much better than I have. http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ImmuneSystem.htm back to laundry.. patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Thank you for all the info, Patrice. I guess I still just don't get it.. it all seems so unfair. And Wolfie was a mutt, she was a husky mix, she still got this disease and did not survive. You would think they would be trying to figure out why it was so treatable before. Never mind my anger it is not directed at you or anyone else... just this damn disease, I get so frustrated with it. I think I am having a meltdown LOL. blessings, Julie |
| Julie IL |
| It could be any number of things, Willow had Lyme disease right before her diagnosis IMT and that could of been the trigger. |
| Lori New England |
| Julie, I have the same questions and thoughts. When my dog was first diagnosed with AIHA, I just couldn't accept it. My vet did say that a lot of it relates to environment and the different products in edible things. I sympathize with you and you are not the only one out there dealing with this whole AIHA thing as you can see on this forum. I wish you and your pet all the best!!! Shannon |
| Shannon Florida |
| Julie, Even before Delilah got "sick" I knew in my heart that everything Patrice said is true. For those of you old enough to remember - there was a time when your dog lived to a ripe old age without all of the problems we now see. If they didn't die of old age it was because they got hit by a car. Fast forward 40+ years. I am constantly amazed at the volume of diseases our pets are dying from. Having newfies has really been an eye opener. Average life expectancy is 10 - average.... The vaccine issue is huge. And not just for animals. There are trade offs for sure but as Patrice stated - the drug manufacturers dropped the ball a long time ago. No incentive to care. Food is huge. Especially when it doesn't even come from the US. How many people lost pets due to the melamine China put in dog food? Having said all that its a confusing world to raise pets in. You have to be independently wealthy to feed the best diet and there is more snake oil out there than you shake a stick at. I don't have the answers but I do understand the problems. Best to you and your furry companions . Sharon |
| sharon Kinsey virginia |
| Julie, When my 3 yr old standard poodle was diagnosed end of May I had people ask me if I would ever think of getting a poodle again (I had two other poodles thru the years and luckily they were healthy.) I guess the thought was that mixed breed dogs are in general healthier- which I agree. My original thinking was that I would always be afraid to get another standard poodle for fear of this disease. Then, after reading all the posts on this forum over the past five months, I've decided to expand that to I will always be afraid to get any dog for fear of this disease. It's the wrong way to think but how can I not be a little paranoid after what we and our dogs go through. Just seems this disease is not breed specific and the poor people who have had two dogs with this - my heart goes out to them. I will definitely do a few things different next time around and hope it makes difference. Chris |
| Chris PA |
This thread was discussed between 30/11/2008 and 01/12/2008
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