What you need to know about canine flu
In Wes Anderson’s animated film “Isle of Dogs,” an outbreak of canine influenza rips through the city of Megasaki. The town’s mayor banishes all dogs to Trash Island.
This film is, of course, a work of fiction. There’s never been a documented case of animal-to-human transmission of a dog flu virus (subtype H3N8 and subtype H3N2; each name identifies its antigen). But it’s important to know that your pooch is vulnerable to the virus, and somewhere under 10 percent of infected dogs die of flu-related complications.
Canine influenza is transmitted through droplets that become airborne when a dog breathes, barks or sneezes. (Cats can catch it from them.) Symptoms include cough, runny nose, fever, lethargy, eye discharge and reduced appetite. Your vet’s treatment will include support care to keep your dog hydrated and prevent a secondary bacterial infection.
So make the flu shot an annual healthy habit for your entire family — one kind for people and one for dogs that spend a lot of time around other animals in boarding or day-care facilities, parks or dog runs. The vaccine is administered in two doses, three weeks apart. As with its human counterpart, getting it early (September or October) makes sense, but it’s never too late to help!
Obesity bad for your brain
Sumo wrestlers follow a diet and workout routine that helps keep them surprisingly healthy. But once they stop training, they’re prone to Type 2 diabetes, high LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.
It shouldn’t take a genius to figure out that sooner or later, being chronically obese is going to exact consequences. Belly fat and brains … if you got one, you’re losing the other!
In a study published in Neurology, researchers found that people with the highest body mass index and the highest waist-to-hip ratios (fat around the middle) had the lowest volume of brain gray matter. This matter contains most of the brain’s nerve cells, memory transmission centers and synapses.
People with a BMI of 30 or above and a waist-to-hip ratio above 0.90 for males and above 0.85 for females had an average gray matter brain volume of 786 cubic centimeters. Folks with healthy BMIS and waist-tohip ratios had an average volume of gray matter of 798 cubic centimeters.
Just being overweight, even without a huge belly, is associated with a smaller hippocampal memory-relay center.
Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.