Cats' Central Nervous System Can Repair Itself

[NOW tense]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2009) — Scientists studying a mysterious neurological affliction in cats have discovered a surprising ability of the central nervous system to repair itself and restore function.In a study published March 30, 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that the restoration in cats of myelin — a fatty insulator of nerve fibers that degrades in a host of human central nervous system disorders, the most common of which is multiple sclerosis — can lead to functional recovery.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330200722.htm

[coyotespaw]

1. Note to self:

eat more cats.

[qazplm]

5. my cat might say

note to self, eat fewer people.

[Vidar]

9. So this is where you've been hiding, Alf.

[snappyturtle]

2. What a wonderful discovery! Thanks for posting! To reply #1, being a cat lover

I find the reply, 'eat more cats', hilarious! My three felines better behave themselves!

[seafan]

3. Huge discovery: Cats can repair/restore function in damaged central nervous system

Nine Lives: Cats' Central Nervous System Can Repair Itself And Restore Function


Credit: iStockphoto/Mariya Bibikova

ScienceDaily
March 31, 2009

ScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2009) — Scientists studying a mysterious neurological affliction in cats have discovered a surprising ability of the central nervous system to repair itself and restore function.
In a study published March 30, 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that the restoration in cats of myelin — a fatty insulator of nerve fibers that degrades in a host of human central nervous system disorders, the most common of which is multiple sclerosis — can lead to functional recovery.

.....

The finding is important because it underscores the validity of strategies to reestablish myelin as a therapy for treating a range of severe neurological diseases associated with the loss or damage of myelin, but where the nerves themselves remain intact.
Myelin is a fatty substance that forms a sheath for nerve fibers, known as axons, and facilitates the conduction of nerve signals. Its loss through disease causes impairment of sensation, movement, cognition and other functions, depending on which nerves are affected.

The new study arose from a mysterious affliction of pregnant cats. A company testing the effects on growth and development in cats using diets that had been irradiated reported that some cats developed severe neurological dysfunction, including movement disorders, vision loss and paralysis. Taken off the diet, the cats recovered slowly, but eventually all lost functions were restored.

"After being on the diet for three to four months, the pregnant cats started to develop progressive neurological disease," says Duncan, a professor of medical sciences at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and an authority on demyelinating diseases. "Cats put back on a normal diet recovered. It's a very puzzling demyelinating disease."

.....

The exact cause of the neurological affliction in the cats on the experimental diet is unknown, says Duncan, who was not involved in the original study of diet.
"We think it is extremely unlikely that (irradiated food) could become a human health problem," Duncan explains. "We think it is species specific. It's important to note these cats were fed a diet of irradiated food for a period of time."

Two take-home messages from this study:


1. There is tremendous potential to discover ways to restore myelin in humans with diseases such as multiple sclerosis, perhaps utilizing stem cells.


2. This study was originally researching growth and development in cats that were fed irradiated diets. That the pregnant cats fed the diets started developing progressive neurological disease, then improved after removing the irradiated diets bears much more scrutiny, as food irradiation is in wide practice for food for human consumption.

[Celebration]

4. yeah I agree with 1 and 2

I also think humans should learn how to purr. All those vibrations are likely to help neurological diseases.

Remember the guy that had to play the harp every day or his neurological disease would start acting up?

[seafan]

6. I don't remember that man, but saw on a recent 60 Minutes a man who

was schizophrenic, and was a master at the cello in spite of it.


There is a lot we can learn from cats... they never suffer from sleep disorders either, lol. An old veterinarian I knew once told me that if you threw 2 cat bones into a room. you'd have a whole cat in 2 days. :)

[Nihil]

7. There again, if you leave the window open ...

... you could have a roomful of cats in much less than 2 days. :-)

[and-justice-for-all]

8. Amazing...nt