Dogs are vulnerable to many diseases but the most common diseases that dogs suffer from are inflammatory. Some inflammatory diseases are also found in humans and some are only found in dogs.
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What Is an Inflammatory Disease?
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Inflammatory diseases are caused when the body's white blood cells trigger inappropriately against its own tissues. Inflammation is usually used to fight foreign diseases, but inflammatory diseases fight healthy tissue as if it is infected.
Types
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Some inflammatory diseases that affect dogs include inflammatory bowel disease, which attacks the stomach or intestines; granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (GME), which attacks the central nervous system; demodicosis (more commonly known as mange), which is caused by the demodex mite; and pancreatitis, which is more common in middle-aged dogs.
Treatment
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Immunomodulating medications, like Flagyl, are often used to treat inflammatory bowel syndrome; in more severe cases, cyclosporine or azathioprine will be used when stronger immune suppression is needed. Radiation is used to treat GME, and long-term medications are used to treat mange.
Treatment but No Cure
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Most of these diseases, like pancreatitis, cannot be cured and require a permanent change in diet in order to be treated. This takes patience for the owner since multiple diets will have to be tried before there is improvement.
Fun Fact
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Some arthritis in dogs and humans is a result of inflammatory disease.
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