About DM - Degenerative Myelopathy
Here under you can read about DM and how to test your dog, we recomend Genrex in the Czech Republic.
What is Degenerative Myelopathy?
Canine degenerate myelopathy, also known as chronic degenerative radiculomyelopathy, is an incurable, progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs. It is also similar in many ways to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The disease has an insidious onset typically between 7 and 14 years of age. It is seen most frequently in the German shepherd dog, Pembroke Welsh corgi and boxer dog, though the disorder is strongly associated with a gene mutation in SOD1 that has been found in 43 breeds as of 2008, including the wire fox terrier, Chesapeake Bay retriever, Rhodesian ridgeback and Cardigan Welsh corgi.
It begins with a loss of coordination (ataxia) in the hind limbs. The affected dog will wobble when walking, knuckle over or drag the feet. This can first occur in one hind limb and then affect the other. As the disease progresses, the limbs become weak and the dog begins to buckle and has difficulty standing. The weakness gets progressively worse until the dog is unable to walk (complete paralysis). The clinical course can range from 6 months to 1 year before dogs become paraplegic. If signs progress for a longer period of time, loss of urinary and fecal continence may occur and eventually weakness will develop in the front limbs. Progression of the disease is generally slow but highly variable. The animal could be crippled within a few months, or may survive as long as three years or more. Another key feature of DM is that it is not a painful disease. |
What causes Degenerative Myelopathy?
Degenerative myelopathy begins with the spinal cord in the thoracic (chest) region. If we look under the microscope at that area of the cord from a dog that has died from DM, we see degeneration of the white matter of the spinal cord. The white matter contains fibers that transmit movement commands from the brain to the limbs and sensory information from the limbs to the brain.
This degeneration consists of both demyelination (stripping away the insulation of these fibers) and axonal loss (loss of the actual fibers), and interferes with the communication between the brain and limbs. Recent research has identified a mutation in a gene that confers a greatly increased risk of developing the disease. Testing for DM
You can go to your veterinary clinic and take a blood sample. It must be done with caution by a veterinary clinician in combination with a document that the animal's clinical signs and then the sample + the dokument will be send to an lab that make the DM test and later send you the results.The results reported are:
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How is degenerative myelopathy clinically diagnosed?
Degenerative myelopathy is a diagnosis of elimination. We look for other causes of the weakness using diagnostic tests like myelography and MRI. When we have ruled them out, we end up with a presumptive diagnosis of DM. The only way to confirm the diagnosis is to examine the spinal cord under the microscope when a necropsy (autopsy) is performed. There are degenerative changes in the spinal cord characteristic for DM and not typical for some other spinal cord disease.
Today you also can do a blodtest and send to a laboratorium and get the result before the disease come. How do we treat degenerative myelopathy?
There are no treatments that have been clearly shown to stop or slow progression of DM. Although there are a number of approaches that have been tried or recommended on the internet, no scientific evidence exists that they work. The outlook for a dog with DM is still grave. The discovery of a gene that identifies dogs at risk for developing degenerative myelopathy could pave the way for therapeutic trials to prevent the disease from developing. Meanwhile, the quality of life of an affected dog can be improved by measures such as good nursing care, physical rehabilitation, pressure sore prevention, monitoring for urinary infections, and ways to increase mobility through use of harnesses and carts.
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