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SM Information

Bet

Well-known member
Could I mention this important Announcement on the UK CKCS CLUB WEB SITE
www.thecavalierclub.co.uk

There will be an Official Report from the CAWC Meeting which was held in London ,29-4-08 ,on the SM Problem in the Cavalier Breed.

Hope-fully now ,until this Report appears ,the Speculation on the SM Problem will get less .

Bet
 
Thanks for that, Bet; I'll be interested in seeing the report when it comes out.
 
SM and MVD RESEARCH INFORMATION

Could I pass on the exciting information about the Revolutionary type of Research now being carried out by Dr Sarah Blott at the Animal Health Trust ,one of the most important Veterinary Research Centers World Wide,who has been given Funding by the Kennel Club here in Britain.

This Research is for the Cavalier Breed into their SM and MVD Problem ,if successful ,will extend to other Health Problems affecting other Breeds .

The bases of it as I understand ,is for Cheek Swabs to be taken ,and this is so important ,that those Cheek Swabs must match the Cheek Swabs of the Cavaliers' other Relations ,this way it is proved that the Pedigrees are not flawed .

For this type of Research to be done Scientifically ,everything has to based on true facts ,or it could be misleading the Researchers.

This ,will I believe lead to MRI Scanning not being required .
At the moment MRI Scanning doesn't provide the information on the Carriers of those Diseases .

Perhaps it will never be known how the SM problem appeared ,since it it is agreed that it is in other Small Breeds as well ,and is now termed a Small Breeds' Disease by a Neurologist in America ,so this Type of Research will hopefully Breed Away from the Problem .

Bet
 
Sarah's work is closely linked to the DNA research in Canada -- she is asking for more MRIs and pedigree information as the more she has the better her work can be. Cheek swabs will provide DNA, but they need to be able to understand and read the DNA (if the genome scan is successful). They also need to have dogs MRId to know if they are affected or not as currently there's no other way to diagnose. She discussed the importance of the genome research at the Rugby, UK seminar as did Dr Guy Rouleau who is heading that research, and asked for more people to come forward with scans and pedigrees if they have them. It would be wonderful one day not to need MRIs but for the foreseeable future, there's no other way to diagnose individual dogs. A couple of research groups are trying to find less expensive and invasive ways of diagnosing dogs. This is a separate issue though to eventually having a DNA test (they hope!) and then -- for Sarah's work -- to be able to determine the best breeding combinations based on a better understanding of inheritance. The DNA work is essential though first.

If people who have had MRIs done on their dogs and also have pedigree information would be willing to make this available for research, can you PM me as I will let the appropriate people know?
 
Karlin,
I think Mr T Lewis ,is looking at the DNA also as is Dr V Adams ,and it doesn't have to wait on the results of finding the Faulty Gene/Genes for SM .

As I said because of this Research at the Animal Health Trust ,which is being mentioned as State of the Art Research ,Cavaliers do seem now to have a Future in both their SM and MVD problems.

This type of Research has never been carried out before ,the Cavalier Breed is so fortunate to be involved in Pioneering it.

Bet
 
Oh, sopunds liek they are simply verifying the identity of the dog using DNA then. That's good because as you say, pedigrees can get muddled and sometimes a dog doesn't have the relationchips to other dogs that a written pedigree states. Actually these relationships thorugh DNA were all doen for the dogs selected for the genome research. :)

However I don't see how cheek swabs that would not require dogs to be MRId? Only the genome work would possibly -- if it is successful -- enable the identification of carriers so that the need for MRIs would be minimised. Sarah needs the genome work to be successful for her work to also be of significant help to breeders, or MRIs will still be needed to establish the status of dogs, and it will still be a lot of guesswork. She is not coming up with a genetic test herself, she is studying how dogs of known status could be bred to best minimise the problem of SM. She accepts that probably all lines are affected and that almost all dogs seem to be carrriers; she discussed this at Rugby. The key is to breed lesser affected to lesser affected, though we all hold out the hope that some unaffected lines might be found!

MRIs will still be needed to diagnose individual animals for treatment until another method becomes possible. (y)
 
Sm Information

Could I pass on this information which has just appeared on the UK CKCS CLUB Web SITE

www.thecavalierclub.co.uk

This is from Dr Sarah Blott who is Researching the SM and MVD Health Problems in Cavaliers at the Animal Health Trust ,here in Britain
What I found interesting ,was her mention that the Estimates of Heritability may be Biased upwards for SM.

This is because the Data has been ascertained on the Basis of Clinical Cases.

She also mentions amongst the Immediate next Steps in the Project ,are to look at ways in which more accurate or unbiased estimate of the Disease Incidence can be found .

Bet
 
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