UF Health Podcasts

Each year, thousands of animal and plant species are objects of illegal wildlife trafficking. Many affected mammals — like elephants and rhinos — are well known, but chances are you’ve never heard of the most trafficked mammal of all, the pangolin.

Pangolins are shy, scaled insect eaters that arguably look more like reptiles than mammals. The eight pangolin species that inhabit Asia and Africa are all highly endangered. Their meat is considered a delicacy, and traditional medicine holds that their scales can cure a variety of ailments.

Nearly a million pangolins have been snatched from the wild over the past decade. Their scales and ability to roll into tight balls are ideal defense mechanisms against natural predators, but they’re no match against humans, the most dangerous threat of all.

Recently, dogs in need of critical first aid have received some positive news.

Following a risk review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Mantel Technologies’ canine freeze-dried plasma — or cFDP — is now available for preorder. It’s intended to treat hypovolemia — that’s low blood volume — and to control hemorrhage.

Plasma is the liquid part of blood, which makes up about half of the blood volume. Traditional plasma products are typically kept frozen and require thawing before use. In contrast, cFDP is a shelf-stable formulation that can be reconstituted with sterile water and given intravenously in emergencies. This makes it particularly useful for trauma cases or in remote settings where whole blood products aren’t accessible or easily stored. Even working military dogs can benefit.

The biggest threat to your heart is invisible.

Cholesterol, a term that doesn’t mean anything to you until it does, has no true visual or physical indicators. You can look fit, exercise frequently and still have high cholesterol without realizing it. The only way to really know is to test your lipids by way of your blood.

Now, updated guidance from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association is changing when clinicians begin screening for high cholesterol … and how they manage it. This is the first time the guidance has been updated since 2018.

The new recommendation? Physicians should begin earlier, and tailor their approach to the patient. For example, folks with familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic condition that causes high levels of the “bad” cholesterol, should begin screening around age 9. If you have preexisting health conditions, it’s better to test in your 20s than in your 30s. As part of a risk calculator, the guidance also recommends taking your blood pressure and kidney function into account.

Some things have stayed the same — like lowering your low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which you might know as LDL, or the aforementioned “bad cholesterol.” One in four adults across the U.S. have elevated levels of the less-than-stellar lipid. Experts recommend a one-time test of Lp(a), which is linked to inherited risk, and lets you know if you might have a tendency toward higher levels.

Ultimately, lowering your LDL lessens your chances of heart attacks and strokes. And, when you lower this lipid as a young adult, your vascular and heart health are set up for success for years to come.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has had a busy first quarter of 2026 approving medications for the animals that we care so much about.

In early March—and five years after issuing conditional approval—the FDA granted full approval to Laverdia®, the first oral treatment for canine lymphoma, a type of cancer involving the lymph nodes and lymphatic system. Laverdia® is available by prescription from a licensed veterinarian.

Pet parents can administer Laverdia® twice weekly at home under their veterinarian’s direction and by carefully following the safety directions in the product’s client information sheet. For example, medical gloves safe for use with chemotherapy drugs should be worn while handling the drug, the dog’s food and water bowls, as well as while cleaning up after a treated dog.

Those of us with four-legged roommates might be sharing more than a couch with them.

A new study from researchers in England mapped feline cancer genetics and found that key mutations, like those that cause breast cancer, appear in both people and cats.

Because our pets tend to live in our homes, these similarities could shed light on shared cancer causes.

In the study, scientists looked at tumors from nearly 500 domestic cats. They screened close to 1,000 genes known for their link to human cancers, comparing tissue samples across 13 kinds of feline cancer. This was the first instance of an analysis of cat tumors conducted at this scale.

Patterns emerged between the genetic drivers of cancer in people and those in cats, with breast cancer being one of the most notable examples. Mammary carcinoma is a frequent, aggressive cancer among felines, and researchers found it was often provoked by a mutation in FBXW7, a gene whose mutations are associated with poor outcomes in people diagnosed with breast cancer.

Other similarities between human cancer mutations were found in tumors impacting the lungs, skin, bone and gastrointestinal system.

Researchers believe that genetic pathways that play starring roles in how cancer develops might be fruitful areas to study, yielding benefits for how we understand cancer across all species.

Currently, cancer remains one of the leading causes of illness and mortality in cats. Researchers from the study noted these similarities might mean some cancer treatments geared toward people might also work in our pets.

We like knowing that what helps us might help them, too.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Numelvi tablets for the control of itch associated with allergic dermatitis in dogs six months of age or older.

According to data from studies conducted by the pharmaceutical company, once-daily Numelvi works quickly to quell itching. Because it’s highly selective for the intracellular enzymes that mediate itch and inflammation in allergic dermatitis, it has minimal effects on other beneficial immune functions, like response to vaccination.

Numelvi is available by prescription from a licensed veterinarian. It now joins several other anti-itch medications used to help soothe the discomfort of canine allergic dermatitis. If your dog is affected, talk to your veterinarian about recommended treatment options.

That friend of yours who starts her day with a challenging crossword puzzle might be onto something.

In the late 1990s, nearly 3,000 older adults received brain training as part of a study that looked at how it impacted their thinking and memory.

Twenty years later, participants continue to reap the benefits.

Researchers say it is one of the first results from a large, randomized trial to demonstrate that any intervention, whether it’s cognitive training, brain games, physical exercise, diet or medicine, can lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

In the study, participants who received cognitive speed training were 25% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia in the next two decades.

That finding surprised the researchers themselves.

They believe the cognitive training might have had such long-lasting benefits because it was personalized. When a participant was successful, the task became harder.

The study involved more than 2,800 adults, ranging from 65 to 94 years old, who were randomly placed in groups for 10 training sessions. In each session, they were asked to do memory, reasoning or speed of processing tasks. Training sessions were at least an hour long.

The speed training required participants to process visual information on a computer screen and make quick decisions. Speed training might cause physical changes to the brain, leading to new and stronger connections between brain networks.

Speed, it seems, might be a key to not slowing down.

We all know that older adults face an increased risk of osteoporosis, a disease characterized by weak, brittle bones. A new study by American and Chinese researchers, however, has found that a particular diet can bring this malady to the doorstep of far younger people.

It’s a diet of ultraprocessed foods.

Ultraprocessed foods are products made mostly from industrial ingredients, not whole foods, and designed to be convenient, highly tasty and long-lasting. And they’re not very healthy.

Examples include packaged snacks and cookies, frozen pizza and instant noodles. The entire list of products, however, is quite long. Think junk food.

But a new study involving more than 160,000 participants found that those eating a diet high in ultraprocessed foods faced a significantly higher risk of bone density loss. That’s compared with people who eat healthier foods.

The data were obtained from the UK Biobank study. This was a long-term project that tracked the health information for half a million people in the United Kingdom.

Those involved in the study logged their diets for five years, and their bone density was measured in four different body sites.

The researchers noticed a significant association between bone density loss among those under 65 and habitual consumption of ultraprocessed foods. In older adults, natural bone density loss with aging likely masks any loss from a poor diet.

The findings suggest that eating junk food increases the risk of bone fractures. As an observational study, scientists can’t prove a link between diet and weaker bones. But the findings are nonetheless worrisome.

The study is yet another reminder that you are what you eat.

As of April 2026, New World Screwworm, or NWS, still hasn’t made its way into the U.S. But if, or when, it does, there’s a new agent to fight it.

You may recall that NWS is a maggot that invades the healthy flesh of animals, often causing severe tissue damage. In March of this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization for a topical spray used to prevent and treat NWS in a variety of animals. F10 Antiseptic Wound Spray with Insecticide can be used in livestock, horses, wild and exotic mammals, as well as wild and pet birds, but it should not be used in pet dogs and cats.

Although this product is available over the counter without a prescription, it’s best to talk to your veterinarian before using it on your animals.

Your understanding of aging might start with an absolute: Over the years, as our bodies and brains undergo wear and tear, we experience a gradual physical and cognitive decline.