New study finds that slow walking could be a sign of dementia

新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，走路慢可能是癡呆癥的癥狀

原文網(wǎng)址

https://www.dvm360.com/view/new-study-finds-that-slow-walking-could-be-a-sign-of-dementia

June 28, 2023

Sydney Yankowicz, Assistant Editor

American Veterinarian?

A new study from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine measured gait speed in senior dogs to find a coloration with a decline in their neurological function as they age. The researchers on this study measured gait speed off leash in 46 adult and 49 senior dogs.1?The adult dogs (older than 1 year and younger than 75% of their expected lifespan),2?who served as a control group, only had their gait speed measured. Individual gait speed was measured first by walking them over a 5-meter distance on a leash with a handler, then by offering a treat the same distance away from the dogs, and calling them to retrieve it off leash. The senior dogs (older than 75% of their expected lifespan)2?did some additional cognitive testing and their owners filled out a cognitive assessment questionnaire, called the CADES questionnaire. A higher CADES score indicates more severe cognitive decline.1

北卡羅來納州立大學(xué)獸醫(yī)學(xué)院的一項(xiàng)新研究測量了老年犬的步態(tài)速度，以找到隨著年齡增長，神經(jīng)功能下降的變化。這項(xiàng)研究的研究人員測量了46例成年犬和49例老年犬的無牽引繩下步態(tài)速度（gait speed off leash）。1?成年犬(年齡大于1歲，小于預(yù)期壽命的75%)作為對照組，只測量了它們的步態(tài)速度。個(gè)體的步態(tài)速度首先是通過在訓(xùn)練者的帶領(lǐng)下牽著狗狗帶走5米的距離來測量的，然后在離狗狗相同距離的地方提供食物，然后松開牽引繩，呼喊它們來攫取食物。老年犬(超過預(yù)期壽命的75%) 2 做了一些額外的認(rèn)知測試，它們的主人填寫了一份認(rèn)知評估問卷，稱為CADES問卷。CADES評分越高，表明認(rèn)知能力下降越嚴(yán)重。1

“Walking speed in people is strongly associated with cognitive decline,” said Natasha Olby, Dr Kady M. Gjessing and Rahna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in gerontology at NC State and corresponding author of the study. “We hypothesized that the same might be true in dogs.”1

“人類的走路速度與認(rèn)知能力下降密切相關(guān)，”北卡羅來納州立大學(xué)老年學(xué)杰出主席、該研究的通訊作者娜塔莎·奧爾比（Natasha Olby）說。“我們假設(shè)狗狗也可能如此?！?

To rule out other factors, dogs had to be free of co-morbidities that could impede their ability to perform the tests such as inability to walk or blindness. The dogs selected ranged from different breeds and sizes.2

為了排除其他因素，狗 狗必須沒有合并癥，因?yàn)橐恍┖喜Y可能會(huì)妨礙它們進(jìn)行測試的能力，比如無法行走或失明。被選中的狗狗有各種各樣的品種和大小。2

To further evaluate cognitive function beyond the CADES questionnaire, testing was performed to evaluate attention (sustained gaze test), social cues (pointing test), working memory, executive control (inhibitory control cylinder task) and problem solving (detour cylinder task).2

為了進(jìn)一步評估CADES問卷之外的認(rèn)知功能，進(jìn)行了注意力（attention）(持續(xù)凝視測試)、社交線索（social cues）(指向測試)、工作記憶（working memory）、執(zhí)行控制（executive control）(抑制性控制圓柱體任務(wù)）和問題解決（problem solving）（繞行圓柱體任務(wù)）的測試。2

The researchers found that in the senior dogs, size didn’t matter when it came to speed; in other words, dogs in the last 25% of their expected life span moved more slowly than adult dogs, regardless of relative size. “Just as in humans, our walking speed is pretty stable through most of our lives, then it declines as we enter the last quarter or so of our lifespan,” Olby said in the release.1

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，在老年犬中，體型對速度的影響并不大；換句話說，不管狗狗的體型大小，在它們預(yù)期壽命的最后25%的年齡時(shí)，它們的行動(dòng)速度都比成年狗狗要慢。奧爾比在新聞稿中說：“就像人類一樣，我們的行走速度在生命的大部分時(shí)間里都相當(dāng)穩(wěn)定，然后在我們進(jìn)入生命的最后四分之一左右時(shí)，速度會(huì)下降?！?

Senior dogs who moved more slowly had more severe levels of cognitive decline based on the owner-completed questionnaires and also did worse on the cognitive testing. The researchers also found that joint pain did not seem to correlate with walking speed, although they note that there were no dogs with severe osteoarthritis in the program. They hope to address this issue in future work.1

根據(jù)主人填寫的調(diào)查問卷，行動(dòng)更慢的老年 狗狗的認(rèn)知能力下降程度更嚴(yán)重，在認(rèn)知測試中的表現(xiàn)也更差。研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)，關(guān)節(jié)疼痛似乎與行走速度無關(guān)，盡管他們注意到，在這個(gè)項(xiàng)目中沒有患有嚴(yán)重骨關(guān)節(jié)炎的狗狗。他們希望在今后的工作中解決這個(gè)問題。1

“When you look at functional aging, the two most important predictors of morbidity are mobility and cognition,” Olby said. “Mobility relies heavily on sensory input, central processing, and motor output – in other words, the nervous system – as a result, mobility and cognition are super interconnected. When you have less mobility, the amount of input your nervous system gets is also reduced. It’s not surprising that walking speed and dementia are correlated. For me, the exciting part of the study is not only that we show gait speed correlates with dementia in dogs as in people, but also that the method of testing we used is easy to replicate, since it’s food motivated and over a short distance. It could become a simple screening test for any veterinarian to perform on aging patients.”1

“當(dāng)你觀察功能性衰老時(shí)，發(fā)病率的兩個(gè)最重要的預(yù)測因素是行動(dòng)能力和認(rèn)知能力，”奧爾比說。“活動(dòng)很大程度上依賴于感覺輸入、中央處理和運(yùn)動(dòng)輸出——換句話說，神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)——因此，活動(dòng)和認(rèn)知是超級相互關(guān)聯(lián)的?！?/span>當(dāng)你行動(dòng)不便時(shí)，你的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)接收到的信息量也會(huì)減少。走路速度和癡呆相關(guān)并不奇怪。對我來說，這項(xiàng)研究令人興奮的部分不僅在于我們發(fā)現(xiàn)狗狗和人的步態(tài)速度與癡呆癥有關(guān)，而且我們使用的測試方法很容易復(fù)制，因?yàn)樗怯墒澄矧?qū)動(dòng)的，而且距離很短。它可以成為任何獸醫(yī)對老年病患進(jìn)行的一種簡單的篩選測試。

More details on the study can be found here: “Winning the race with aging: age-related changes in gait speed and its association with cognitive performance in dogs.”?

關(guān)于這項(xiàng)研究的更多細(xì)節(jié)可以在這里找到:“贏得與衰老的比賽：狗狗的步態(tài)速度與年齡相關(guān)的變化及其與認(rèn)知表現(xiàn)的關(guān)系?！?/span>

DOI:?10.3389/fvets.2023.1150590

References 參考文獻(xiàn)

1. Slow walking could be sign of dementia in older dogs. News release. North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. June 27, 2023.

2. Mondino A, Khan M, Case B, Fefer G, Panek W, Gruen M, Olby N. Winning the race with aging: age-related changes in gait speed and its association with cognitive performance in dogs.?Front Vet Sci.?2023;10 doi:?10.3389/fvets.2023.1150590

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