Question:
There has been much interest in slowing the normal aging of the humanbrain, and the accelerated deterioration of Alzheimer's dementia. Dogsare certainly susceptible to dementia. Can it be slowed in dogs?

In humans current studies are focusing on Vitamin E and anti-oxidants,estrogen (women), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines(NSAIDS). Of these the estrogen data is most convincing.

Is anyone aware of similar work in dogs? I wonder in particular aboutneutered females, with lower estrogen levels. Do they experience earlierdementia?

Answer: a web site on Deprenyl for canine dementia:http://www.deprenyl.com/frmowntp.htm. The site is very interesting --it's provided by the drug manufacturer of course, so take it with someskepticism. Deprenyl was very hyped as a therapy for Parkinson's inhumans, but it hasn't lived up to its marketing hype. Still, this isvery much worth watching, though a prophylactic treatment would bepreferable to a salvage therapy.

several dog nutrition books recommend Vit C & E, aswell as anti-oxidants. I'm going to research this a bit further. Anyrecommendations on references or particular books. I recognize that itwill be hard to find double-blinded randomized placebo controlledclinical trials

I should have been clear I was curious aboutthe potential for therapy. I definitely wouldn't advocate giving a dogroutine NSAIDs or estrogen! (I know no-one here would do that.) Atherapy tolerated by humans could kill a dog (see the chocolatediscussion, for example). The vet mentioned dogs do not experiencemenopause, but of course a neutered female dog is defacto menopausal.I've often wondered about supplemental estrogen for the older neuteredfemale.