On November 4th two Brockton Animal Hospital patients will “travel” to Florence, Italy. They won’t actually be flying to Europe but the International Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ISLMS) is holding their annual medical conference. For the first time in their history there will be a veterinary tract as part of this human medical conference. Dr. Hirschberg will be presenting on the topic of light therapy and its benefit in the treatment of kidney disease in dogs and cats.
“Terra”, a 13 year old Chow mix canine and “Ginger” an 11 year old Domestic Short Hair cat both suffer from Stage 4 kidney disease. This is based on a staging system in which Stage 4 is the most severe. Up until a few years ago both Ginger and Terra’s owners would have been told that survival beyond a few months was unlikely. As of this date, Ginger’s diagnosis was made nearly a year and a half ago. Terra’s is going on six months. Both owner’s describe their pets as active, feeling great with excellent appetites, all most unusual for pets with Chronic Renal (Kidney) Disease. (CRD).
Ginger and Terra are just two of the patients we have enrolled in our pilot study on treatment of Kidney disease using light (laser) therapy. As many of our clients know we have been very involved in the field of Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT was previously called laser therapy) for several years and are constantly exploring new areas of treatment. Light therapy in veterinary medicine was originally introduced as a drug free alternative to treat osteoarthritis and other painful inflammatory conditions. As we have gained a greater understanding of the science and principles upon which treatment is based we have been able to significantly expand the applications. Treatment of kidney disease is but one of the many uses we have found that markedly improves the quality of life for patients suffering from this unfortunate condition. At this point we have now established PBMT as a standard of care procedure for patients that are suffering from Chronic Renal Failure (CRD) at the Brockton Animal Hospital. We are also in discussion with several veterinary colleges and other groups with the intent to launch a broad based study to further apply this technology to the illness. Large, multi center clinical trials would be the best way to understand how to further treatment of kidney disease with light therapy.
If you have a pet that is suffering from kidney disease, osteoarthritis or any other inflammatory disease, please feel free to call and discuss to see if light therapy might hold a better and more comfortable future for your pet.