Leber´s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), a disease affecting vision, is caused by several point mutations in mitochondrial DNA. Mutations leading to a defect NADH ubiquinone oxidoreductase protein will affect the respiratory chain and cause a disturbed ATP production. It is still unknown why this defect leads to the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells and cells in the opticus nerve as well as demyelination of axons in these areas. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA is an important tool in the diagnosis of the disease. At the present time analysis is based on cleavage by restriction enzymes, which only detects two of the most frequent mutations: m.3460G>A and m.11778G>A.

The complexity of the mast cell is becoming more prominent. From being the cell recognized just to contribute to allergic inflammation it is now also associated with wound healing, protection against tumor growth and in recognition and defense against a wide range of pathogens. The location of the mast cell in the barrier between the external and internal environment of the body enables the cell to quickly respond to invading bacteria, virus and parasites. Diarrhea due to Escherichia coli infection, listeriosis, toxoplasmosis, Newcastle disease and bovine respiratory syncytial virus are examples of mast cell activating diseases that can affect animals in, as well as outside, the agricultural sector. Additionally, ticks and tick-borne diseases are of concern.

Amyotrofisk Lateral Skleros, ALS, är en neurologisk sjukdom vilken leder till att samtliga kroppens muskler förtvinas och dör. Då sjukdomen saknar bot blir all behandling symptomatisk och individuellt anpassad för varje enskild persons behov. I denna systematiska litteraturstudie har det sökts efter olika sätt att stötta denna patientgrupp då syftet att belysa hur vi som personal kan hjälpa och stötta personer med ALS relaterad dysfagi och andningsproblem till en så bra tillvaro som möjligt skulle belysas.Författarna har funnit att omvårdnaden sällan sätts i fokus. Det är istället de lösningar som tar bort symtomet som fått fokus i flertalet av de artiklar som granskats. Att hjälpa dessa personer till trygga och oberoende människor som kan fortsätta att leva istället för som många av artiklarna visade då det gjordes insatser som ledde till att personerna blev mer bundna till sina anhöriga och sina vårdare..

This report describes the nutritional requirements of the dog and cat. You are also able to learn about the most common diseases in the dog and cat where food has an important role in both prevention and recovery of these diseases. We describe FLUTD, canine urolithiasis, heart- and kidney disease, gastrointestinal diseases and obesity. You have to know the right balance between different nutrients to decrease the stress on the body and to prevent the advancement of the diseases. Finally we discuss the differences between three manufacturers of veterinary prescribed diets and two commercial pet foods..

This student report is about canine infectious skin diseases. It is primarily directed at veterinary assistans. The report includes a description of the skin?s structure and immunologic defences. The four types of allergic reactions are described. Different diagnostic techniques are also accounted for. The skin diseases included in the report are: fleas, lice, Sarcoptes scabiei, ringworm, Cheyletiella and leishmaniosis.

ABSTRACTMultiple sclerosis (MS) is the leading cause of adult disability inSweden. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can be used as a treatment option for patients with MS where the disease has an aggressive course. The treatment is preceded by high-dose chemotherapy which lowers the patient's immune system. It is therefore of interest to study infectious complications associated with HSCT in this patient.Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify infection problems in this population associated with HSCT, and to study differences in infectious complications between this group and patients diagnosed with lymphoma who have undergone the same treatment.Method: The study was a retrospective descriptive study with quantitative data. A medical record review was conducted.

Hypoadrenocorticism (Addison´s disease) results from insufficient production of glucocorticoid and mineralcorticoid hormones from the adrenal glands. The disease is often difficult to diagnose in an early stage because of the multitude of associated vague clinical signs. The standard poodle is one breed presupposed to be at higher risk of developing the disease. The purpose of this study was to give a review of canine hypoadrenocorticism as described in literature, and to characterise Addison´s disease in a population of standard poodles in Sweden. Statistics on incidenceproportions by breed for hypoadrenocorticism from the database of the Swedish insurance company Agria are presented.

ABSTRACT Background: Health and ill-health are multifaceted concepts. Previous research has shown that physical activity and the level of cardio respiratory are important parts of leading a healthy lifestyle. Possibly, it?s so important that the Occupational Health Service should focus even more on this.Aim: The aim was to investigate if there was a relationship between the level of cardio respiratory fitness and self-rated health, and between the level of cardio respiratory fitness and physical and mental ill-health.Method: The study was conducted using a quantitative method in the form of a cross sectional study. Data was collected from an Occupational Health Service, containing answers to a questionnaire on work environment and health and test values ??from completed cycle fitness tests.

Uganda anses vara ett högriskland för utveckling av nya plötsligt uppdykande sjukdomar (emerging infectious diseases, EID). Grisproduktionen i Uganda har ökat drastiskt de senaste åren och en stor del av Ugandas grisar är frigående. De kan därför lätt komma i kontakt med vilda djur i deras närområde. Porcint circovirus 2 (PCV2) är ett ubikvitärt virus och etiologiskt agens för bland annat porcine multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Förutom att infektera tamgrisar över hela världen så har PCV2 också visats kunna infektera vildsvin.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an important but unusual cause of chronic respiratory disease of young dogs. The purpuse of this paper is to study and present internationally publicated papers on PCD in dogs and present three dogs, in which PCD was suspected. PCD has been reported in many dog breeds as well as in people. In dogs an humans, PCD is caused by inborn genetical defects which causes structural and functional abnormalities of cilia in the respiratory organs and other cilia in the body. Situs inversus occurs in about half the cases in people and probably in dogs as well. Respiratory signs usually predominate.

Among researchers it has been established since decades that humans and animals have an internal biological clock that controls certain physiological mechanisms. One example regarding humans is the impairment of lung function during the night, causing the phenomenon ?nocturnal asthma? among asthmatics. Only a few studies concerning respiratory circadian rhythm in horses have been done previously and they showed a daily variation in horses with a chronic or an acute respiratory disease. The technique used in those studies was the conventional technique, which is invasive and less sensitive than the technique used in this study.

The development of quantitative, real-time PCR (qPCR) combined with the mapping of the canine genome opens new possibilities in veterinary medicine. This method provides a quick and accurate quantification of the expression of a specific gene at a given point in time and thereby also information of how the gene expression for a certain protein is influenced by various conditions and diseases. One possible area of application is identifying bio markers for cancer. Recently the protein serglycin (the core protein of an intracellular proteoglycan) was found to act as a selective marker for the disease acute myeloid leukemia in humans (Niemann et al, 2007). Serglycin is produced by most hematopoietic cells, although mast cells account for the largest amount of serglycin.

The canine population has during it?s time with humans gone through at least 2 major genetic bottlenecks, the first when it was separated from the wolf, and the second when it was divided into different breeds. Among other things, this has lead to the accumulation of unwanted genes, such as genes causing disease in dogs. One such inherited disease is syringomyelia, which has proven to be more common than expected, especially in certain smaller breeds such as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Syringomyelia in dogs is often a secondary condition caused by the malformation called occipital hypoplasia.

Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV) is a common cause of respiratory disease among young cattle. The virus causes severe losses; the herd mortality rate can sometimes be as high as 20 %. In this study the avidity (i.e the antigen binding force) of BRSV specific antibodies was measured to see if there was a difference between antibodies produced during an acute phase of infection and antibodies produced by earlier infected animals. A commercially available ELISA-testkit against BRSV-specific antibodies was used and an incubation step with 6M urea was added. The effect of the urea is that it breaks the weak bonds between antibodies and antigen while the stronger bonds remain intact. Four different groups of animals were included in this study; seven calves that were naturally infected, three acutely infected calves with known time of infection, five cows that were seropositive during several years and four experimentally infected calves that had been a part of a vaccine trial. The results of this study showed that antibodies produced during the acute phase of an infection had a low avidity and that the avidity increased with time after infection.

This bachelor thesis is written as a part of the geography program at Stockholm University, Sweden, and the study was conducted from April to June 2012.Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne disease and one of the most widespread infectious diseases in the world with more than nine million new cases each year (SMI 2012, digital source). The disease is a major source of death and suffering in many places and the number of deaths remains high despite the availability of highly efficacious treatment. To control and prevent further spread of TB, the mapping of the disease spatial distribution is of essential importance.In this study, maps were produced that shows the spatial distribution of TB between the years 2002 to 2011 in the municipality of Stockholm. These maps allow an analysis of the spatial distribution at a local scale over time.The aim of this paper is to study how the spatial distribution of TB has looked like in the municipality of Stockholm the last 10 years and to analyze why the spatial distribution of the disease looked like it did. This study is based on the hypothesis ?drift?.