Exploring the Science Behind Ava Puppy Food What Makes It So Effective
Exploring the Science of Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese technique that has been used for millennia to treat chronic pain and other health problems associated with inflammation, yet the scientific basis of the technique remains poorly understood.
Now, a team of researchers led by neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School has elucidated the underlying neuroanatomy of acupuncture that activates a specific signaling pathway.
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In a study conducted in mice and published Oct. 13 in Nature, the team identified a subset of neurons that must be present for acupuncture to trigger an anti-inflammatory response via this signaling pathway.
The scientists determined that these neurons occur only in a specific area of the hindlimb regionthus explaining why acupuncture in the hindlimb works, while acupuncture in the abdomen does not.
This study touches on one of the most fundamental questions in the acupuncture field: What is the neuroanatomical basis for body region, or acupoint, selectivity? said lead investigator Qiufu Ma, HMS professor of neurobiology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
One area of particular interest to the research team is the so-called cytokine stormthe rapid release of large quantities of cytokines that frequently drives severe, systemic inflammation, and can be triggered by many things, including COVID-19, cancer treatment, or sepsis.
This exuberant immune response is a major medical problem with a very high fatality rate of 15 percent to 30 percent, Ma said. Even so, drugs to treat cytokine storm are lacking.
Adapting an ancient technique
In recent decades, acupuncture has been increasingly embraced in Western medicine as a potential treatment for inflammation.
In this technique, acupoints on the bodys surface are mechanically stimulated, triggering nerve signaling that affects the function of other parts of the body, including organs.
In a 2014 study, researchers reported that electroacupuncture, a modern version of traditional acupuncture that uses electrical stimulation, could reduce cytokine storm in mice by activating the vagal-adrenal axisa pathway wherein the vagus nerve signals the adrenal glands to release dopamine.
In a study published in 2020, Ma and his team discovered that this electroacupuncture effect was region specific: It was effective when given in the hindlimb region, but did not have an effect when administered in the abdominal region. The team hypothesized that there may be sensory neurons unique to the hindlimb region responsible for this difference in response.
In their new study, the researchers conducted a series of experiments in mice to investigate this hypothesis. First, they identified a small subset of sensory neurons marked by expression of the PROKR2Cre receptor. They determined that these neurons were three to four times more numerous in the deep fascia tissue of the hindlimb than in the fascia of the abdomen.
Then the team created mice that were missing these sensory neurons. They found that electroacupuncture in the hindlimb did not activate the vagal-adrenal axis in these mice. In another experiment, the team used light-based stimulation to directly target these sensory neurons in the deep fascia of the hindlimb.
This stimulation activated the vagal-adrenal axis in a manner similar to electroacupuncture. Basically, the activation of these neurons is both necessary and sufficient to activate this vagal-adrenal axis, Ma said.
Neuroanatomic explanation
In a final experiment, the scientists explored the distribution of the neurons in the hindlimb. They discovered that there are considerably more neurons in the anterior muscles of the hindlimb than in the posterior muscles, resulting in a stronger response to electroacupuncture in the anterior region.
Based on this nerve fiber distribution, we can almost precisely predict where electrical stimulation will be effective and where it will not be effective, Ma explained.
Together, these results provide the first concrete, neuroanatomic explanation for acupoint selectivity and specificity, Ma added. They tell us the acupuncture parameters, so where to go, how deep to go, how strong the intensity should be.
He noted that while the study was done in mice, the basic organization of neurons is likely evolutionarily conserved across mammals, including humans.
However, an important next step will be clinical testing of electroacupuncture in humans with inflammation caused by real-world infections such as COVID-19. Ma is also interested in exploring other signaling pathways that could be stimulated by acupuncture to treat conditions that cause excessive inflammation.
We have a lot of tough chronic diseases that still need better treatments, he said, such as inflammatory bowel syndrome and arthritis. Another area of need, he added, is excessive immune reactions that can be a side effect of cancer immunotherapy.
Ma hopes that his research will ultimately advance scientific understanding of acupuncture and provide practical information that can be used to improve and refine the technique.
The work was primarily supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant R01AT010629), and partially supported by Harvard/MIT Joint Research Grants Program in Basic Neuroscience and the Wellcome Trust (grant 200183/Z/15/Z). For further information on salary support for the researchers, please refer to the paper.
Ava Medium Breed Puppy Review
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This food is suitable for the following breed sizes:
Private label(or
white label) pet foods are pre-formulated recipes that companies can order from certain factories, add their own label or packaging and retail to the public as their own brand. They are therefore available from numerous suppliers.
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Mixing bowl composition
This is the ingredients list as printed on the packaging or manufacturer's website.
Think of the 'mixing bowl' composition like a recipe - all the ingredients you would need to put in a 'mixing bowl' in order to make the food.
Ingredients have to be listed in descending order of their weight so the higher it appears, the more there is.
Highlighted ingredients
Ingredients that we believe to be controversial or inferior are highlighted in yellow with particularly low grade, highly contentious or excessively vague ingredients in red.
As fed composition
While the 'mixing bowl' composition is useful for knowing what went into the food, it doesn't always reflect what your dog is actually eating. This is because the processes that turn the ingredients into the finished pet food can significantly alter the relative weights of the ingredients.
For this reason we've calculated the approximate 'as fed' percentages for the main ingredient categories in the finished product.
Please note that these figures are very approximate. They are estimates based on the information provided by the manufacturer in the ingredients list so the clearer the terminology and the more percentages they provide, the more accurate our estimates will be. Wherever information is lacking, we always assume the worst.
Ingredient categories
Meat ingredients: includes all meat and fish ingredients except isolated fats/oils.
Added oils and fats: includes all isolated oil and fat ingredients.
Carb-rich ingredients: includes all ingredients derived from grains, pseudo-grains, potatoes and other starchy root vegetables, sweet potato and legumes (except whole peas which are categorised under fruit and veg) except for isolated protein and extracted oils. Also includes fibre supplements.
Fruit and veg: includes all whole vegetables and fruits.
Other: all other ingredients. Mostly made up by nutritional supplements and additives.
For more information on any ingredient, please take a look at our Dog Food Ingredient Glossary
The dry matter level of a nutrient is the percentage there would be in the food if all of the water was removed.
With water taken out of the equation, these figures allow the nutrient levels of foods of different types (like wet and dry) to be compared on an even playing field.
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The
price per dayof feeding this food based on feeding the manufacturer's recommended daily amount from 15kg bags bought at their rrp to a dog of:
Note:All suggested feeding amounts and costs are only approximate and may vary considerably from dog to dog. Be sure to contact the manufacturer if in any doubt.
68 out of 100-Good
Our unique product ratings are calculated based on a number of characteristics including the quality and quantity of the stated ingredients, certain nutritional and technological additives and the processing methods used to create the food. They are designed to indicate how beneficial we think a food is likely to be for the majority of dogs when fed on a daily basis for an extended period. Click here for more information
Country of origin: United Kingdom
A technological additive is any substance added to a pet food "for a technological purpose and which favourably affects the characteristics of feed".
The most common categories of technological additives include preservatives and antioxidants, gelling agents and thickeners and probiotics.
While the primary effects of technoloical additives are certainly 'favourable' (increased shelf life in the case of preservatives & antioxidants, better food texture and consistency in the case of gelling agents and thickeners etc.) some have been linked to health problems in pets and should be treated with caution.
Unfortunately, many technological additives do not have to be declared by the manufacturer so just because they do not appear on the label does not necessarily mean they are not in the food. If in doubt, ask the manufacturer directly exactly what technological additives their foods contain.
