Y2S1 Week 6: Breaka Wave, Canine Osteoarthritis, and Real Mushrooms!
This week started out with a fun little cardiology exam followed by a spontaneous trip down to the central coast! Our schedule had aligned in a way that left Monday afternoon completely open and Tuesday’s lectures were able to be attended virtually. As soon as we finished our exam, Morgan, Katelyn, Churro and I hopped into the car and headed down to San Luis Obispo. We made great time on the road and got into SLO around 3:15 which allowed for the majority of the afternoon to be spent at the beach. We then headed to the campground and got things set up. Morgan and Katelyn camped at Morro Bay while Churro and I spent the night at Jenn’s (the amazing vet that I used to live with during undergrad). Churro and Jenn’s dogs, Remi and Daisy grew up together so it is always fun when they get to reunite. I also love seeing her and her family and catching up on life!
Tuesday morning started off with a 3.5 mile run with Jenn, we used to run together all the time so every time I come to visit we make sure to get a run in! I then had the opportunity to get in a quick 25 mile bike ride to Avila Beach. This ride is right along the coast and the weather was absolutely beautiful! I made it back just in time to remotely tune into class and learn about cardiac hemodynamics and cardiac radiology. These lectures had a lot of clinically relevant aspects and the fact that I can stay up to date on class while enjoying the central coast is absolutely crazy!
After watching the lectures, Churro and I headed out to Avila Barn to take some fall pictures! Churro enjoyed sniffing around the hay bales and checking out all of the fall decorations. As a reward for his photo cooperation, we headed to the beach and he got to run his little brain out. He ran into a little Aussie that had the same markings and they had a blast running through the sand and into the water. Once Churro was tuckered out, we headed home and I was able to catch up on some school work. I then made my way to Morro Bay to pick up Morgan and Katelyn and we headed to the rodeo. We had all attended undergrad at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and found out that the school’s rodeo team was putting on their annual event, Breaka Wave on Tuesday. This rodeo is held on the beach which is probably the most California thing you have heard of. The event is free to the public and is attracts spectators from near and far. My sister and a few of her friends drove up from Santa Barbara and I also got to see a lot of old friends. It was so much fun spending time reconnecting with people while watching beautiful animals do their thing on the beach.
Once the rodeo concluded we all went to dinner downtown and then Morgan, Churro and I headed back to Davis. We got into Davis around 2:30 in the morning and took a quick power-nap before officially starting the next day.
Wednesday started off with a quick run with Churro followed by two lectures on ECG abnormalities. This was one of the most clinically relevant lectures of the block thus far and it was exciting to learn about the ways that heart conditions can present on ECG. The next lecture was on the cardiac pump. That afternoon consisted of a nice discussion on cardiac imaging which helped solidify the concepts from the previous day’s lectures.
After a little break, the Symposium planning team had a meeting with our AVMA Advisor to touch base and discuss our progress. These meetings are always super helpful and it is exciting to see this event come together. We are exactly six months out from the event and I am so proud of how well this team is doing! The rest of Wednesday included some studying and an early bedtime.
Thursday started out with a nice hot yoga session followed by some lectures on blood pressure regulation, neurohumoral response to cardiovascular dysfunction, and cardiovascular response to pressure and volume overload. We then had an awesome lunch talk from Dr. Paul Pion who is the co-founder of VIN and the brainiac behind finding that taurine deficiency was linked to heart disease in cat. Dr. Pion gave a wonderful talk that emphasized the importance of going into life with an open mind and appreciating the people in your life that helped get you to where you are today. He emphasized the importance of making connections and valuing the important people in your life.
That afternoon we had a great discussion on hemodynamics. This was a great way to help solidify the lecture on Tuesday and it was nice to walk through some clinical cases! After the discussion ended, I spent some time with Churro and then Dr. Yamate and I went to a SVVMA CE talk on Canine Osteoarthritis sponsored by American Regent Animal Health. It was interesting to learn that the prevalence of osteoarthritis in dogs over one year of age is 20% which is a fair percentage of the canine population. Out of that percentage of affected dogs, 41% of dogs have a mild form of the disease, 38% have a moderate form, and 21% are severe. Dogs with the mild form may not show many, if any, clinical signs but over time this disease can progress and cause the animal a significant amount of discomfort. There are many ways to manage and improve the symptoms of osteoarthritis including weight control, diet, exercise, rehabilitation and medications and a multimodal approach is usually taken while trying to help maximize the patient’s quality of life. Adequan is commonly integrated into this multimodal approach since it is a injectable polysulfated glycosaminoglycan that proactively treats the disease, not just the symptoms. Adequan helps restore joint lubrication, decrease inflammation, and renew the building blocks of healthy joint cartilage. When used in conjunction with other lifestyle modifications, dogs with osteoarthritis are able to receive more relief from their symptoms. After the dinner talk Dr. Yamate and I met Jill (her wonderful practice manager) for some ice cream at Salt and Straw before heading back to the clinic.
Friday started off with another hot yoga session followed by three lectures on cardiac pathology. Pathology lectures are always super interesting and so the morning flew by! During lunch I listened to a talk from Dr. Teresa Plagman. Dr. Plagman works with PetIQ which is a company that focuses on providing accessible vet care to those in need. During her talk, Dr. Plagman mentioned that by 2030 it is estimated that over 75 million us pets may not have access to care. This is a significant number and seeing the gradual increase in pets that are no longer able to receive proper veterinary care due to financial challenges is heartbreaking. It was also mentioned that DVM turnover rate is 2x more than that of an MD and CVT turnover rate is also higher than that of an RN. Understanding where the industry currently lies is important so that we can work to improve the future and increase access to care while also increasing the satisfaction of veterinarians and veterinary staff in these positions.
Friday afternoon included some quality time with Churro followed by some studying!
Saturday morning started off with a nice 6 miler with Churro followed by a fun day trip to Berkley with Dr. Yamate! We attended a seminar that was hosted by the company Real Muschrooms and learned about the benefits of medicinal mushrooms and how they can be a game changer in the lives and disease progression in people and animals. Lee Carroll had three great sessions that methodically brought me, a novice in mushroom knowledge, up to speed on some of the current research surrounding these powerful fungi. The first session focused on an overview of a variety of different fungi and the impact that they can have on the health of healthy and diseased individuals. The second two sessions focused on the incredible benefits of Ergothioneine. Ergothioneine (ERGO) is a diet-derived, thiolated derivative of histidine that is produced by certain fungi and bacteria. It is both directly and indirectly an antioxidant and has cytoprotective properties. ERGO transporter genes are expressed in 58 tissues and it is used as a secondary antioxidant buffer in extreme situations. Talking about all of the benefits of ergothioneine would take up way too much time so here is a short and certainly not comprehensive list of the benefits associated with this compound.
Regulation of mitochondrial function
Reduction of oxidative stress
Regulation of metabolism
Promotion of cell survival
Influence on aging and longevity
Modulation of apoptosis and necroptosis
Lee also emphasized the important impact that ERGO can have on preventing cognitive decline and the potential correlation of low plasma ERGO levels and human disease. If you are interested in learning more about this powerful compound and how it may be able to help prevent age-related neurodegenerative disease, check out this research article.
Overall, this was a super fun way to spend a Saturday and I am SO grateful that Dr. Yamate brought me along for the ride. This is something that is not taught in vet school and if I didn’t have amazing people in my life that were willing to take the time and help expose me to these alternative and complementary approaches to health, I would have no idea that these things even exist!
Sunday started out with a quick 4 miler with Churro followed by a day packed full of studying for the upcoming cardiology exam!
Quote of the week: "The sinus node just went to lunch and left everyone hanging" - Dr. Ames explaining sinus node dysfunction and atrial standstill.
コメント