123 – Essential Wellness + CRA + OA

Background:

Essential Wellness + CRA + OA includes an inflammation assessment with C-Reactive Protein (CRP) or Haptoglobin (HPT) and two of the most important essential vitamins: Vitamin D (25OHD) and  Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) .  Additionally, screening for early signs of cancer is done using TK1 providing the Cancer Risk Assessment (CRA).  CRA is a way to see the risk of a major cancer event in the coming 4-6 months.  Early detection leads to early intervention, more options, and better outcomes. Apparently healthy animals should not have systemic inflammation.  When present, source of inflammation should be identified and resolved if possible before it becomes chronic.  Chronic inflammation leads to the development of serious diseases including cancer.  Detect occult disease in the otherwise healthy looking pet using the single most effective test for overall health: CRP (dog) or HPT (cat).

Hyaluronic Acid (HA) is a marker of degenerative joint disease (DJD).  Joint Disease is typically viewed as an old-pet disease, however the degeneration of joints can start early in life and not present clinically until later.  Using HA to detect when that degeneration begins, allows earlier intervention and more options to slow or stop the progression of joint disease.   Learn more.

Vitamin D is the most important hormone in the body and sufficient levels are anti-proliferative, pro-differentiating, and anti-inflammatory: all involved in cancer pathogenesis.  VDI provides patient-specific dosing guidelines to get patients to sufficiency. Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin that plays a role in DNA synthesis.  As an essential vitamin it’s only obtained through the pet’s diet.  Low B12 values can indicate diet deficiency or the presence of disease that inhibits absorption. VDI provides patient-specific dosing guidelines to get patients to normal.

Clinical Applications:

1. General Wellness (annual or biannual screening)
2. Apparently Healthy pets
3. Pets at high risk of inflammatory diseases
4. Pets at risk of cancer
5. Pet Parents wanting to be proactive in detecting & managing disease

Recommendations:

Health screening using a sensitive inflammatory marker, CRP/HPT, should begin once the animal reaches an adult stage.  Annual testing while apparently healthy is the minimum recommended interval with bi-annual screening being the most effective way to detect the presence of occult disease.

Pets at risk of cancer benefit from bi-annual testing of CRA.  For best results, CRA should be performed every 4 months.

VDI provides dosing guidelines for Oral Hyaluronic Acid in patients with elevated HA results.

Evaluating essential vitamin levels should start once the dog or cat reaches adult stages and establishes their adult diet.  Once diet has been stable for 3 months, test baseline vitamins and correct any insufficiencies with supplementation, or consider a diet change if values are considerably low.  VDI provides patient-specific dosing guidelines for both Vitamin D and B12.  Recheck intervals are every year once sufficient unless diet or health changes occur.