Cats develop dementia in a similar way to humans
Experts at the University of Edinburgh carried out a post-mortem brain examination on 25 cats which had symptoms of dementia in life, including confusion, sleep disruption and an increase in vocalisation.
They found a build-up of amyloid-beta, a toxic protein and one of the defining features of Alzheimer's disease.
The discovery has been hailed as a "perfect natural model for Alzheimer's" by scientists who believe it will help them explore new treatments for humans.
Dr Robert McGeachan, study lead from the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, said: "Dementia is a devastating disease - whether it affects humans, cats, or dogs.
"Our findings highlight the striking similarities between feline dementia and Alzheimer's disease in people.
"This opens the door to exploring whether promising new treatments for human Alzheimer's disease could also help our ageing pets.
Microscopy images of older cats which had previously shown symptoms of feline dementia revealed a build-up of amyloid-beta within the synapses - the junctions of brain cells.
Synapses allow the flow of messages between brain cells, and losing these causes reduced memory and thinking abilities in humans with Alzheimer's.
The team believe the discovery in cats could help them get a clearer understanding of the process, offering a valuable model for studying dementia in people.
Previously, researchers have studied genetically-modified rodents, although the species does not naturally suffer from dementia.
"Because cats naturally develop these brain changes, they may also offer a more accurate model of the disease than traditional laboratory animals, ultimately benefiting both species and their caregivers," Dr McGeachan said.
Will this research benefit cats?
The researchers found evidence that brain support cells - called astrocytes and microglia - engulfed the affected synapses.
It's known as synaptic pruning, an important process during brain development but which contributes to dementia.
Prof Danielle Gunn-Moore, an expert in feline medicine at the vet school, said the discovery could also help to understand and manage feline dementia.
"Feline dementia is so distressing for the cat and for its person," she said.
"It is by undertaking studies like this that we will understand how best to treat them. This will be wonderful for the cats, their owners, people with Alzheimer's and their loved ones."
The animal rights campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the study appeared to have been conducted in a "respectful, non-invasive way" on the brain of cats that already died.
However it said it would oppose any research that involved future experiments on live cats.
The study, funded by Wellcome and the UK Dementia Research Institute, is published in the European Journal of Neuroscience, and included scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh and California, UK Dementia Research Institute and Scottish Brain Sciences.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Vanessa Feltz, 63, jokes 'looking gaunt is fantastic' as she joins Lizzie Cundy, 57, to discuss weight loss jabs after news Mounjaro cost is set to double
Vanessa Feltz joked 'looking gaunt is fantastic' as she joined Lizzie Cundy to discuss weight loss jabs on her talk show on Friday. The former This Morning presenter, 63, has long been open about her struggles with her weight, which have seen her fluctuate between a size 10 and 22. She previously described the emotional rollercoaster of dieting as soul-destroying and has shared her experiences with gastric band surgery. Now, in a clip from her show shared on Instagram, Vanessa and Lizzie, 57, offered their thoughts on the growing trend of weight loss jabs. Lizzie said: 'You can tell some celebrities that are going too far on it, because they are looking gaunt… and you don't want to look like that.' Vanessa quipped: 'I always want to look it. I'm desperate to look gaunt. I've always wanted to look gaunt. 'I think being gaunt would be a fabulous look having been fat for so many years. I think gaunt would just be fantastic.' Mounjaro price increases Mounjaro®▼ (tirzepatide) KwikPen® Dose Current UK List Price New UK List Price (From September) 2.5mg £92 £133 5mg £92 £180 7.5mg £107 £255 10mg £107 £255 12.5mg £122 £330 15mg £122 £330 Lizzie replied: 'But I don't think it's good when you hear these stories that it isn't always perfect having these jabs and you really got to know your own body and if it doesn't feel right, don't keep doing it. 'You know, there are other ways. And I think it's really important we hear the other side.' 'I totally agree,' Vanessa said. It comes after Mounjaro manufacturer Lilly sparked panic among slimmers on Thursday after revealing it would more than double the price of the drug in the UK. The US pharmaceutical giant announced the cost would soar from September 1, with the wholesale price of a month's supply of the highest dose rising from £122 to £330. Lilly claimed it had initially launched Mounjaro in the UK at a price 'significantly below the European average to prevent delays in NHS availability' but that this must now change 'to ensure fair global contributions to the cost of innovation'. The announcement, however, does not affect the price the NHS pays, as the service has negotiated a heavily discounted rate for those getting the drug on prescription. But there are thought to be around 1.5 million people on weight loss drugs in the UK with more than half of them on Mounjaro—and estimates suggest nine in 10 pay for these drugs privately. She added height to her slender frame with a pair of hot pink heels and carried her belongings in a pink Dior tote bag After the show wrapped up, Lizzie put on a leggy display in a pink floral shirt mini dress as she left the studio. She added height to her slender frame with a pair of hot pink heels and carried her belongings in a pink Dior tote bag. The star completed her look with a stylish pair of sunglasses and appeared in good spirits as she headed to her next destination. It comes after Lizzie's son married his long-term partner in Italy. She was among close family and friends last month as Josh Miller exchanged vows with fiancée Martina Bassenger, a creative director for London based production company Sons of Rigor Films. With Venice serving as an appropriately romantic backdrop, the happy couple - who met five years ago - looked stunning as they posed for photos with their parents shortly after the ceremony. Martina opted for traditional white on the day, with the brunette walking the aisle in a custom floor-length gown and matching veil. Meanwhile Josh, an actor and producer, chose a smart two piece suit from Nathan Palmer Bespoke Tailors, offset with a white dress shirt and bow tie. Sharing an array of photos from the wedding on social media, she wrote: 'My boy only got married!…. I'm so proud I could burst!! Here's to the most beautiful couple Josh and Martina.. I've not stopped crying with joy.' The weekend provided a reunion of sorts, with the presenter accompanied by ex-husband Jason Cundy - the groom's father - for an additional series of photos as the reception spilled over into the evening. Radio broadcaster Cundy, a former footballer who played as a centre-back for Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town before retiring in 2000, opted for a cream linen suit as he watched his son exchange vows. Lizzie previously discussed the breakdown of her marriage during an appearance on Vanessa Feltz's Channel 5 show in May. The presenter married Jason in 1994, with the couple welcoming two children before divorcing in 2010. 'At the time it broke my heart,' she told Feltz. 'As I said, I think I had a breakdown, I didn't eat, I lost an incredible amount of weight. I was very upset and Vanessa you were there and supporting me very much.' However, she explained that she has been able to move past the hurt and has since built a strong friendship with her ex-husband. She added: 'But life moves on and I say to everyone, make friends. There's no point being bitter and angry and that does go. And when I see him now, I don't think of that at all.' The truth behind new diet drug craze - Hollywood is hooked on it, and social media is fanning demand for the latest weight-loss 'miracle' Over the summer I was lucky enough to be invited to a 60th birthday at which the after-dinner entertainment was a private performance by one of the UK's leading male pop stars. More eye-popping than the actual show, though, was how incredible said star looked. He was a mere shadow of his former self, prancing around the stage in a silver catsuit. His secret? Semaglutide, or Ozempic as it is branded, a new diet drug that everybody – but everybody, darling, including one of the world's most famous supermodels – is apparently taking. Originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, it is used off-label (for a purpose other than that for which it was licensed) in both the US and the UK to treat obesity. In research conducted by its billionaire manufacturer, the Danish-based pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, patients lost an average of 17 per cent of their overall body weight over 68 weeks. This compares with five to nine per cent for 'oldschool' anti-obesity drugs such as Metformin. Only available in the UK on the NHS if you have type 2 diabetes, Ozempic can be obtained through a private doctor, and if you are willing to take it without medical supervision – not recommended by doctors (see panel) – you can get it online through various weight-loss programmes. It is sometimes taken in tablet form but more commonly as an injection. Predictably, Hollywood has been aware of Ozempic for a lot longer than us – Variety magazine recently quipped that the drug deserved its own thank-you speech at the Emmys, as so many stars on the podium had obviously been taking it. Elon Musk raved about its more powerful sister drug, Wegovy, on Twitter; Kim Kardashian, it is hotly rumoured, used semaglutide to lose 16lb in order to fit into Marilyn Monroe's dress for the Met Ball. On TikTok the hashtag #ozempic has had more than 285 million views. Thanks to the hype, there has been a surge in demand, causing shortages on both sides of the Atlantic, with a backlash against influencers and celebrities hogging supplies ahead of desperate diabetes sufferers. Predictably, Big Pharma has come up with an alternative – tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro), manufactured by Eli Lilly – but it has yet to be approved by the US Food & Drug Administration for weight loss. Novo Nordisk has issued a statement to say its supplies will be replenished by the end of the year, but it hasn't quelled anxiety. At least two middle-aged male friends of mine who started using it in September are getting themselves in a twist about being caught short before the holidays. As one private London GP remarked to me: 'It's like the H RT panic last spring.' So what exactly is this drug? Semaglutide belongs to a class called GLP-1 agonists, which not only regulate blood sugar but, as was discovered about a decade ago, also mimic the gut hormones that regulate our appetites – the ones that tell the brain when we are hungry or full. There are, of course, side effects: acid reflux, nausea, exacerbation of IBS symptoms and fatigue (but much less so than in earlier GLP-1 agonists such as Saxenda), as well as pancreatitis, gallstones and, in very high doses, it has caused thyroid tumours in rats. Meanwhile, when you stop using it the effect wears off immediately and in some cases it won't work at all. 'I would describe semaglutide as an example of very smart science,' says leading consultant endocrinologist Dr Efthimia Karra from her private practice off London's Harley Street. 'But it is not a panacea for everyone. Around a fifth of users do not respond to it. This is because the human body favours weight gain, thus when you lose weight the body will do anything to revert to its highest BMI. The heavier you are the harder it is to lose weight. If a patient has made no progress in three months, I will take them off it.' Banker's wife Laura, a native New Yorker in her mid-50s who had hovered between decades, started using it in January. 'The Paleo diet, 5:2, CBT, NLP, bootcamp, diet delivery services – I've tried them all,' she says from the family home in Hampshire, 'and I've always yo-yoed right back. After my last annual checkup I seriously contemplated giving up. Then my doctor suggested semaglutide.' After only a month she noticed her clothes had become looser. From then on, the weight started dropping off. 'The strange thing was, I wasn't eating anything different. I just couldn't physically have seconds any more, and the idea of pudding after a full meal had lost its allure.' Three months on, she is two stone lighter ‒ though occasionally she suffers heartburn if she eats too late at night or drinks alcohol ‒ and when we spoke in autumn, she was looking forward to losing another stone by Christmas. 'There is a niggling voice that tells me it is both risky and lazy to take a drug to lose weight, and I worry that it will all pile on again if I stop taking it. But if it does, I will seriously consider taking it indefinitely.' Private London GP Dr Martin Galy has been prescribing semaglutide for about a year to clients who cannot lose the weight they gained in menopause. He has seen it have a transformational effect, too, on much younger women who suffer polycystic ovary syndrome. 'PCOS sufferers are difficult to treat, and you can imagine how body image plays a very important part when it comes to self-esteem.' But according to Tom Sanders, professor of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London, it is not a magic bullet. Commenting on a study on semaglutide published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2021, he says, 'The challenge post-weight loss is to prevent a regain in weight,' he wrote. It may prove to be useful in the short term, but 'public health measures that encourage behavioural changes such as regular physical activity and moderating dietary energy intake are still needed'. That said, given our rising national obesity statistics and the escalation in accompanying health issues such as heart failure, cancer and obstructive sleep apnoea clogging up hospital beds, we're going to need something. Semaglutide may be the rich person's drug today, but might it be approved for more widespread use? Only time will tell.
Times
34 minutes ago
- Times
Patients waiting up to a year for dementia diagnosis in Scotland
Patients suffering dementia symptoms are being 'left in limbo' for more than a year as they wait for NHS tests in Scotland. The latest records show 650 people with cognitive problems, such as memory lapses, are queuing for specialist assessment in the Lothians alone — with the longest delay extending to 55 weeks. In Ayrshire and Arran the maximum wait to see an old-age psychiatrist is 381 days. Henry Simmons, chief executive of the charity Alzheimer Scotland, said patients 'are losing the opportunity to have control for as long as possible' because of the long queues. Drug advances have raised the possibility of halting the progression of Alzheimer's disease if it is caught in the early stages. Prompt diagnosis also increases the chance that a patient will understand their illness and can plan their future care.
Times
35 minutes ago
- Times
Final snow patch melts, for the fourth year running
Summer heatwaves in Scotland have resulted in the country being declared snow-free for only the tenth time since the mid-1800s. Experts tracking the survival of snow patches around Scottish mountains have recorded the disappearance of the final snow patch of 2025 as the country experiences one of several heatwaves this year. It marks the fourth consecutive year that all Scotland's patches have disappeared. Seven of the ten snow-free years have been recorded since the turn of the century. Glennie found no snow in the Sphinx patch, above, but there were a few small, isolated patches in the Pinnacles patch earlier in the day on August 6 JOE GLENNIE Author and snow-patch researcher Iain Cameron is one of several snow lovers, or chinophiles, who have charted snow in Scotland's mountains. The mountaineer Joe Glennie, together with Colin and Campbell, a father and son, witnessed the disappearance of the final snow patch at 2.30pm on August 6. Cameron said: 'The most durable patch of snow historically is in the Cairngorms and is called the Sphinx, situated in a huge corrie of Braeriach — which is the UK's third highest hill — called Garbh Choire Mór. It is also the most remote corrie in the Cairngorms, requiring significant effort just to get there.' Ad hoc records have been kept for two centuries, first by the Scottish Mountaineering Club then by the naturalists Seton Gordon (1900-1940) and Adam Watson (1940-2000). Braeriach, seen in winter across the Lairig Ghru ALAMY As a teenager, Cameron became fascinated by a patch of lingering snow on Ben Lomond which he could see from the window of his childhood home in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde. He has become an authority on the subject, having kept records since 2000, and has published several books on the subject, including The Vanishing Ice. He said 'We are seeing less snow falling in winter and spring in general across the Highlands, which is the main reason for snow patches disappearing more often.' Iain Cameron with the shrinking Sphinx snow patch in 2023 NICK HANSON The Sphinx and Pinnacles patches are remote and inaccessible He pointed to challenging conditions experienced by the Scottish snowsports resorts, which experienced one of their worst seasons last winter. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service reported the lowest number of avalanches in 40 years, and described Scotland's most recent snowpack as 'lean'. Historically, most of Scotland's longest lasting snow patches lie in northeast-facing corries, where moisture-laden southwesterly Atlantic winds dump snow above 2,000ft. The snow blows over cliffs, settling in sheltered areas shielded from the warming winds of spring and summer. 'The depth needed to sustain the patches through summer and autumn is simply not there,' Cameron said. 'This is backed up by the decreased number of skier days experienced across the main ski resorts in Scotland. The reasons for this are debated, but a changing climate must certainly be considered the biggest one.'
