UF Health Podcasts

Nearly 50,000 cases of the blood vessel cancer called canine hemangiosarcoma are diagnosed each year in the U.S.

It’s invariably fatal, although removing the dog’s spleen and chemotherapy may extend its life.

Now, an experimental therapy is showing promise. First, a blood test is used to detect hemangiosarcoma cells. Then the affected dog is treated with eBAT [Ē-bat], which consists of two antibodies that target receptors on these cells with a toxic payload. eBAT invades the cancerous tissue, stops protein production and destroys cells that feed the tumor.

Fewer than 50% of dogs diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma live six more months. So far, treatment with eBAT after a splenectomy has increased this rate to about 70%, and that’s significant.

Cats love their snooze time — in fact, they nap 12 to 16 hours a day. After analyzing hundreds of videos of sleeping cats, researchers found that two out of three cats prefer to sleep on their left side. The question is … why?

When cats sleep on their left side, they see their surroundings with their left visual field when they wake up. This information is then sent to the right hemisphere of their brain, which is best at spatial awareness. This includes analyzing possible threats and coordinating quick escape actions, which could help cats in hunting and evading predators.

So, instead of being a mere fancy, the feline tendency for left-sided sleeping may actually be a survival tactic.

Skin grafts can provide lifesaving treatment for large soft-tissue wounds. That’s true for people and animals, and sometimes these grafts have interesting origins.

In 2024, a wounded adult bald eagle was found by a Good Samaritan who brought it to a veterinarian. There was no healthy skin left to close the infected, gaping wound, making euthanasia an obvious option. But because the bird could still use its claws, the veterinarian decided to try a skin graft — one from an Atlantic cod.

With the help of a company that produces cod-skin grafts for human wounds, the eagle healed in about 10 months. This was the first time cod-skin patches had been used to help a bird of prey.

Given that fish make up about 90% of an eagle’s diet, it seems Mother Nature has a sense of humor.

The last half of 2024 was devastating for U.S. honeybees. Over 60% of commercial colonies were decimated — and that followed a 50% die-off the previous year.

Funding cuts and layoffs earlier this year affected the speed at which the U.S. Department of Agriculture could determine the cause of the deaths. But now the culprit is clear: viruses spread by varroa [vah-ROW-ah] mites. Pesticide exposure and poor nutrition may also have contributed.

Virtually all bees studied were resistant to amitraz [AM-ǐ-traz], the only miticide still safe for bees and historically effective against varroa mites.

If honeybee populations suffer too consecutive die-offs, they may not bounce back. They pollinate more than 90 of the nation’s commercial crops, so that could spell all kinds of trouble.

You’ve likely heard this old adage: No pain, no gain. For some committed gym goers, there are no days off when it comes to staying active.

Sure, every day at the gym is an opportunity to build your level of fitness. But if you find yourself increasingly sore without any improvement, or notice your bench presses plateauing, it may be time to reconsider your approach.

It isn’t intuitive, but many of your “gains” happen between workouts. Rest is a necessary period when your body goes about repairing muscle tissue, replenishing energy and resetting your nervous system.

In forgoing recovery, you are more susceptible to burnout and injury. The cumulative stress leads to consequences like fatigue, persistent stiffness, diminished output and even mood disturbances or disrupted sleep.

Think about it: Have you ever tried to run or lift weights after a poor night’s sleep? You likely labored step after step and rep after rep. A study published in Physiological Reports states that sleep deprivation elevates cortisol levels and reduces muscle protein synthesis. The result? Inefficient tissue repair, delayed muscle growth and more vulnerability to sickness.

Consider a recovery routine to complement your workout regimen. Aim for incorporating both restorative and active recovery into each week. Active recovery involves low-impact movements that help with circulation — think going on a walk, or doing yoga. Restorative recovery is all about breathing and giving your nervous system the attention it needs and deserves.

Sometimes the grind needs to halt. Taking the time to care for your fitness journey in its entirety can help ensure its longevity … one rest day at a time.

For decades, nutritional guidance has suggested eggs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Whether it was raising cholesterol or increasing the risk of heart disease, the fridge staple acquired a bad reputation. But new research suggests the real bad egg might be bacon — or more specifically, the saturated fat in processed meats.

In the study, researchers assigned three separate diets to a group of healthy adults. One diet was high in saturated fat from processed meats like bacon and sausage; another included two eggs a day, but was low in saturated fat; and a third option combined high cholesterol with high saturated fat.

After five weeks, participants who were assigned to the diet high in cholesterol and saturated fat demonstrated the worst cholesterol readings of the group. The runner-up for worst diet? The group of folks who did not eat eggs but had an abundance of bacon or sausage. Finally, the cohort who ate two eggs a day but less saturated fat fared the best, even showing improved levels of LDL, or what we know as bad cholesterol.

The takeaway? Saturated fat — not dietary cholesterol — is the main contributor to higher low-density lipoproteins, or the “bad” kind of cholesterol. Processed meats pack a heavy punch of saturated fat, while eggs provide protein and nutrients without the same negative effect.

For those heart-conscious breakfast lovers who have ditched the eggs and bacon for fruit and yogurt, there’s no longer a need to eschew the delicious dozen. Cutting back on processed meats alone can help protect your cholesterol levels, allowing you to scramble back into the world of egg-forward breakfasts.

At this point, everyone and their mother are begging you to go outside and spend time in nature. There’s decades’ worth of research to support it making you feel better, both mentally and physically. Now, a research study is drilling down into the details to find that even as little as 10 minutes spent outside could help your mental health.

Published in Ecopsychology, this new analysis scoured three decades of research on how nature impacts mental health. From an initial pool of 14,168 studies, researchers homed in on 45 that involved almost 1,500 adults with diagnosed mental health conditions. These studies ranged from brief urban park visits to extended wilderness immersions.

The results? Well, according to the analyses, whether research participants spent just 10 minutes in a city park or several days in the wild, they reported experiencing positive mental health benefits. Some studies examined frequent short visits into nature, while others looked at longer, continuous exposure. Notably, the analysis indicated that outdoor spaces based around water, like lakes and oceans, and camping and gardening activities, had the greatest positive effect. But all approaches, even urban nature, showed encouraging results. Additionally, nature’s positive effects appeared even greater for those diagnosed with mood disorders, including depression or bipolar disorder.

So, if the idea of a weeklong wilderness trek feels daunting, rest easy. A brief escape to a nearby park is a practical, low-cost option that could be just as beneficial — and you won’t need to bring toilet paper or bug spray.

You experience it while playing the newest edition of your favorite video game. You notice it after a good run or workout.  Whether you’re gardening, painting, meditating or even savoring the first spoonful of an ice cream sundae, that feel-good chemical is being activated.

Regardless of what you do to feel good, dopamine is involved. The hormone is connected to your brain’s reward system, and gives you a sense of pleasure. This, in turn, can be the motivation to pursue activities that make you feel good —or even great.

But did you know it’s possible to experience a lack of dopamine? Experts say that certain types of media, food and activities can disrupt our dopamine balance.

This is because dopamine plays a central role in addiction. In short: When we do something that’s feels good, dopamine instructs our brain to do more, reinforcing the behavior. The end result can be a dopamine deficit, which causes us to need more of our reward — not to feel good, but to stop feeling bad.

The classic “offenders” of alcohol and drugs can cause this disruption, but so can sugar, addictive social media and video games.

Experts say the best way to deal with a dopamine deficit is to do a cleanse. Try a month without the activity or source of dopamine. Four weeks is the average amount of time it takes to reset reward pathways in the brain. Yes, you’re going to feel worse before you feel better. Give it 10 to 14 days, and the disconnect between dopamine and the stimulus will dissolve.

After abstaining, reevaluate whether you can do this activity occasionally. It’s all about moderation.

When it comes to cute canines with squishy noses and flat faces – or brachycephalic breeds of dogs – there’s more than meets the eye. These breeds: pugs, bulldogs, Boston terriers, shih tzus and boxers, for example, can face unique health challenges and care requirements due to their short snouts, compressed skulls and flat faces. According to the American Kennel Club, the French bulldog is the No. 1 most popular breed in the United States three years running. On this episode of Animal Airwaves Live, Clinical Associate Professor Kathleen Ham, M.S., D.V.M., DACVS, will cover brachycephalic dog breeds, breathing syndromes and other health challenges they face. Dr. Ham will also talk responsible care for brachycephalic breeds, like regulating body temperature, weight management and more.

Pardon this nosy question, but how clean are your sheets?

With so much chatter about sleep’s key role in our overall health, it’s notable that the state of our sheets gets scant attention.

A 2022 poll from the global survey company YouGov found that just 28% of British respondents wash their sheets once a week. Many respondents said it was far less than that, sometimes every two months or more.

In the U.S., a 2017 survey of 1,000 Americans found that the average time between sheet-washings was about 24 days.

But does it matter if many of us don’t reach the seemingly high bar of washing our bedding every week?

Microbiologists would likely answer that in one word: Yes.

This is because our bodies are kind of … gross. An unholy combination of icky things, including sweat, body oils, drool, allergens, pollutants, pollen, dust, shedded skin, bacteria and fungi and dust mites sleep with us.

And, if your cat, dog or menagerie sleeps with you, add dander, dirt, fur and maybe a little bit of poop to the party mix.

Some of these items can cause or at least aggravate health conditions. Dust and pollen can obviously make allergies worse, but dust mite droppings are potent allergens that can aggravate asthma and skin conditions, too.

The trick, unfortunately, is to simply wash these well-loved linens more frequently than (it seems) we’d like.

To start: Wash your sheets and pillowcases once a week. If you’re sweating a great deal due to heat or illness, you’ll need to buckle down and ramp that up to every three days.

Hopefully, it’ll make going to bed feel downright luxurious … and encourage us all to pivot to sheets that are not only silky, but squeaky clean.