Why DIY Rat Cages Are Not the Best Idea for Rats

by | Jun 17, 2023 | Science

Thinking about creating a DIY rat cage? It might seem like a fun and budget-friendly idea, but there are some important factors to consider before diving into the DIY world.

Let’s explore why DIY rat cages might not be the ideal option for your furry friends. We’ll cover topics like ventilation, materials, and potential costs!

Risks

need plenty of fresh air in their cage to stay healthy. They produce urine that contains ammonia, which can be harmful if it accumulates in their living space. Inadequate ventilation can lead to respiratory stress, which can lead to serious health issues. So, ensuring proper airflow is a must for rat housing.

Designing a DIY cage that balances durability and airflow can be quite tricky.

Plus, rats are notorious chewers! They’ll happily nibble on anything within reach, including cage stands and walls. This chewing habit can weaken the structure of your DIY cage, posing risks to your rats.

Unsuitable Materials

Wood is often the go-to material for DIY rat cages due to its versatility and ease of customization. However, it’s not a suitable choice for housing rats.

These little critters love to chew, and wood is no exception. They can quickly chew through wooden structures, turning your DIY masterpiece into an escape route for your rats.

On top of that, wood is almost impossible to clean thoroughly, which is crucial for maintaining a healthy and hygienic environment for the rats. While you can easily remove and clean wooden cage accessories individually, cleaning a wooden-based DIY enclosure as a whole can be a real hassle.

Another option is plastic which poses no health hazard, but rats can easily chew through it.

I’ve also seen cages made of glass. These are absolutely unsafe as they trap ammonia in the cage and don’t allow it to disperse.

Space

When it comes to rat cages, size matters! It’s important to give your furry friends plenty of room to roam and play. Ideally, a rat cage should measure at least 32×20 inches or 80×50 centimeters in floor space. However, creating such a spacious DIY cage can be quite a challenge. In fact, many DIY cages I’ve come across often fall short in terms of floor space.

We all want the best for our little companions, and that includes providing them with ample space to move around and explore. Unfortunately, DIY cages may not always meet these size requirements, as they can be tricky to design and construct on a larger scale.

Rat cage Critter Nation one story 850 | Why DIY Rat Cages Are Not the Best Idea for Rats | DIY rat cages may seem like a cost-effective option, but they may not meet the specific needs of rats. Commercial rat cages are designed with safety features, proper ventilation, easy maintenance, and ample space for enrichment. | Wellcare World | health

A rat cage should have a volume of over 8 cubic feet.

Consider the Costs

Compared to ready-made rat cages available in stores, DIY enclosures come with their fair share of risks and potential expenses.

Designing and building a DIY cage that meets your rats’ needs can be time-consuming and end up being more costly. It requires careful planning, knowledge of suitable materials, and some DIY skills. Without these resources, creating a safe and suitable DIY cage can be quite a challenge.

If you’re considering DIY because you’re on a budget, your best bet is to check platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and local exotic animal groups. You can often find high-quality enclosures at affordable prices when buying second-hand. This way, you’ll not only save money but also eliminate the risks and uncertainties associated with DIY rat cages.

Prioritizing Rat Happiness

Choosing the right cage is crucial for the of your rats. Their overall health depends on proper care and suitable living conditions. Investing in a well-designed and purpose-built rat cage ensures your rats have enough space and proper ventilation.

By focusing on their needs, you’ll be providing them with a comfortable and enjoyable environment.

Factors to Consider When Making a DIY Rat Cage

If you are considering the option of building your own rat cage, there are several important factors to keep in mind to ensure the well-being of your pets.

Follow these guidelines for a comfortable and suitable rat habitat:

  • Size: It is essential to provide your rats with ample room to move and explore. A cage with a floor space of at least 32×20 inches (80×50 cm) will allow them to roam and engage in their natural behaviors.
  • Adequate Ventilation: Ideally, all four sides and the top of the cage should be fully ventilated to ensure your rats get enough fresh air.
  • Suitable Materials: Wood is a bad choice as it absorbs the pee, and both plastic and wood can be chewed through and pose an escape risk. A fully metal cage would be the best choice, as it can’t be chewed and it’s not absorbent.
  • Bar Spacing: The bar spacing needs to be small enough to prevent any Houdini-like escapes. A gap between bars measuring ½ inch (1 – 1.5 cm) will keep your rats securely inside the cage.
  • Substrate Requirements: Rats are burrowing animals and benefit greatly from having substrate to dig in. When constructing your DIY cage, make a cage base at least 6 inches (15 cm) tall. This way, you can add a minimum of 4 inches (10 cm) of the substrate while having a few inches as a scatter guard. If that’s not an option, add digging boxes in the finished cage setup.

Examples of Bad & Unsuitable DIY Rat Cages

Browsing around the internet, I wasn’t able to find many suitable DIY rat cages with proper ventilation, made of safe materials, and enough floor space. In contrast, there’s a fair share of bad DIY rat cages that don’t provide adequate housing. Here are some examples so you know what not to do.

Bad DIY rat cages (what not to do):

Example of a bad DIY rat cage
Cages made of glass are not safe.
Image from Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Conclusion

While DIY projects can be a blast, DIY rat cages might not be the best option for your furry friends. The challenges of ventilation, the pitfalls of wooden structures, and the potential risks and costs involved make ready-made rat cages a more reliable choice.

So, instead of embarking on a potentially complicated and expensive DIY project, consider checking out affordable, high-quality second-hand cages on platforms like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

By putting your rats’ well-being first and selecting the right cage, you’ll ensure they have a cozy and safe home they’ll love to call their own.

The post Why DIY Rat Cages Are Not the Best Idea for Rats appeared first on Animallama.

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Even Moderate Drinking Is Not Good for Your Health

Even Moderate Drinking Is Not Good for Your Health

by | Jun 5, 2023 | Health

Decades of conflicting reports seem to have finally resolved into a clear, buzz-killing picture, while yet another study confirms it:

No amount of consumption will protect against disease or extend
your lifespan, according to a sweeping review published in late March.

The meta-analysis, printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association, draws on more than a hundred studies involving nearly 5 million people.

The researchers found that just 25 grams a day for women and 45 for men — roughly two and three drinks, respectively — carries a significant risk.

Tim Stockwell, lead author and professor of psychology at the University of Victoria, recognizes this isn’t welcome news for many casual drinkers.

“It’s our favorite recreational drug,” he says, adding some sobering advice. “Don’t kid yourself that it’s going to improve your health. The evidence for that is shakier and shakier as the research piles up.”

The French Paradox

The belief that alcohol in moderation is good for you originated in the 1980s with the so-called French paradox — despite their seemingly high-fat diet, men in France were unexpectedly free from cardiovascular disease.

Early research attributed the phenomenon to their fondness for , and although further investigation disproved it, the idea persisted.

Many subsequent studies pointed to a link between moderate alcohol consumption and general , but as the adage goes, correlation does not imply causation.

Stockwell and his colleagues concluded that most previous estimates were riddled with biases, skewing the results to give alcohol more credit than it deserves.

Reinterpreting the Health Effects of Alcohol

In those studies, the relationship between alcohol and all-cause mortality — death by everything from disease to injury — has typically appeared as a J-shaped distribution curve.

The tail represents abstainers, at relatively high-risk; the dip represents moderate drinkers, at lowest risk; and from there the slope rises steadily, as risk increases with every glass. But this version of the story is misleading, Stockwell says.

For one, the comparison with abstainers is unfair.

That category often includes former drinkers who gave it up due to illness. Others who forgo alcohol may not be able to afford it, and lower socioeconomic status comes with a host of health challenges.

On the flip side, anyone who limits themselves to a drink or two regularly probably has a long list of advantages. They are likely to be wealthier, better educated and more physically active, for example.

In other words, “It’s not the moderate that’s healthy, it’s the moderate drinker,” says Aaron White, senior scientific advisor to the director at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, who was not involved in the study.

Cheers with drinks

(Credit: Mooi Design/Shutterstock)

Fixing the Flaws

When the authors of the new analysis adjusted for these factors, removing the bias as well as possible, the dip in the J (that is, the risk of death for moderate drinkers) sprang up much closer to the height of the tail.

Alcohol’s protective effect all but disappeared.

They weren’t able to fully correct the flaws of previous studies, however, so even the updated results must be taken with a grain of salt.

“My gut feeling,” Stockwell says, “is that when we do better research, we’ll find that we’ve been underestimating alcohol’s risk at every level.”

Effects Alcohol Has on the Body

The moment you ingest any amount of ethanol, he believes, you boost your chance of cancer, liver disease and myriad other health problems.

That’s not to say the occasional drink is a death sentence — small servings, small danger might be a good rule of thumb.

In White’s view, it just means you should consider alcohol like cake, or anything else that’s pleasurable but has potentially harmful side effects.

“If you enjoy it and you’re willing to take the risk,” he says, there’s no need to swear it off entirely.

More Convincing Research

The JAMA study isn’t the first to cast doubt on alcohol’s role in health.

Last year a team of MIT and Harvard researchers analyzed genetic and medical data for nearly 400,000 people, and found that even small amounts of alcohol were linked to heart disease, though the risk increased exponentially at higher levels.

One problem with most research to date, in addition to methodological biases, is that it was based on observational studies, which can’t prove cause and effect.

Genetic evidence adds much-needed diversity to the field’s literature, Stockwell says.

Designing the Perfect Trial

The gold standard would be a randomized controlled trial, in which participants volunteer to maintain consistent drinking habits — some would abstain, others would have a drink a day, others two or three.

By tracking them over the course of their lives, researchers would glean far more accurate information. Such a project would be almost prohibitively expensive.

The National Institutes of Health began a similar effort in 2013, then shut it down in 2018 amid concerns that NIH officials had compromised their impartiality as they sought $100 million in funding from the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken.

Historically, many studies demonstrating the health benefits of moderate drinking have been funded by the alcohol industry, leading some experts to question their results based not only on methodology, but also on conflict of interest.

A Sobering Consensus

Despite the difficulties of conducting ideal research at the proper scale, scientific consensus seems to have settled decisively.

Even red wine — which contains the antioxidant resveratrol and was long thought to prevent coronary artery disease — has lost defenders.

In a policy brief published last year, the World Heart Federation declared unambiguously that “contrary to popular opinion, alcohol is not good for the heart.”

Dietary authorities have also grown more cautious in their messaging over the past decade.

The latest U.S. guidelines recommend no more than two drinks per day for men and one for women, adding that “even drinking within the recommended limits may increase the overall risk of death.”

Notably, though, the guidelines don’t advocate sobriety, per se. They state that no one should drink specifically to improve their health.

Alcohol Industry Response

Even industry representatives, who have historically portrayed moderate drinking as part of a well-balanced life, now echo this point.

Amanda Berger, vice president for and health with the Distilled Spirits Council, criticized certain aspects of the new research but conceded that “no one should drink alcohol to obtain potential health benefits,” according to the New York Times.

There’s still something to be said for alcohol, in White’s opinion, when you factor in the enjoyment it brings some people.

But as for its direct effect on our health, “the conversation is really changing,” he says. “Alcohol is not good medicine, and I think that is ultimately what we’re seeing here.”

By Cody Cottier

 

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CMS announces plan for NEW Alzheimer’s medications

CMS announces plan for NEW Alzheimer’s medications

by | Jun 5, 2023 | Health

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure announced today how people can get drugs that may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease covered by Medicare. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants traditional approval, then Medicare will cover it in appropriate settings that also support the collection of real-world information to study the usefulness of these drugs for people with Medicare.

“Alzheimer’s disease takes a toll on not just the people suffering from the disease but also on their loved ones and caregivers in a way that almost no other illness does. CMS has always been committed to helping people obtain timely access to innovative treatments that meaningfully improve and outcomes for this disease,” Brooks-LaSure said. “If the FDA grants traditional approval CMS is prepared to ensure anyone with Medicare Part B who meets the criteria is covered. I’m pleased to make this announcement today as part of CMS’ mission to help improve the lives of Americans we serve. I hope we see more private sector partners in this work making their own announcements soon.”

FDA Timeline

The FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee will discuss the results of a confirmatory trial of the Eisai product Leqembi on June 9, with a potential decision on traditional approval possible within weeks. Broader Medicare coverage would begin on the same day the FDA grants traditional approval. Under CMS’ current coverage policy, if FDA grants traditional approval to other drugs in this class they would also be eligible for broader coverage. Currently two drugs in this class have received accelerated approval from the FDA, but no product has received traditional approval.

Medicare Drug Inclusions

Medicare will cover drugs with traditional FDA approval when a physician and clinical team participates in the collection of evidence about how these drugs work in the real world, also known as a registry. Clinicians will be able to submit this evidence through a nationwide, CMS-facilitated portal that will be available when any product gains traditional approval and will collect information via an easy-to-use format. This method, and any others that may follow, will adhere to robust privacy protections in accordance with applicable federal laws and regulations, including HIPAA. Researchers will have access to the information to conduct studies, furthering knowledge of how these drugs can potentially help people. CMS is working with multiple organizations that are getting ready to open their own registries. More information will be released as they come on line.

Roll Out How’s

The approach is consistent with CMS’ National Coverage Determination. To get Medicare coverage people will need to 1) be enrolled in Medicare Part B, 2) be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease, and 3) have a qualified physician participating in a registry, including the options above, with an appropriate clinical team and follow up care. These criteria are in addition to any label requirements the FDA specifies.

Registries are common tools in clinical settings that have successfully gathered information on patient outcomes for decades. There is strong precedent for using registries to gather more information on a newly-approved treatment. For example, when the FDA granted traditional approval to the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), CMS required the clinicians and hospitals to participate in a registry to track outcomes. Information gathered from that registry has since been used to further inform Medicare coverage determinations, and to help people and their clinicians make better decisions about whether TAVR is the best treatment for them.

Additional Information from CMS

Other registries for drugs that may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease may become available in the coming weeks and months. Information will be available at https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coverage/Coverage-with-Evidence-Development as studies come on line.

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About TeraMD Terahertz Physiotherapy Device

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Alzheimer’s Disease Options Explored

Alzheimer’s Disease Options Explored

by | Mar 2, 2023 | Health

disease is a debilitating condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Despite years of research, there is still no cure for this disease. However, weighing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease has several potential benefits that can help improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, increase research funding, improve understanding of the disease, and improve public . In this article, we will explore each of these potential benefits in detail and discuss how weighing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease is an important step in the fight against this debilitating condition.

Improved Patient Outcomes

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disorder that affects cognitive function, memory, and behavior. Currently available treatments only provide limited benefits and do not slow down the disease’s progression. However, new treatments that target the underlying mechanisms of the disease could provide more significant benefits. For instance, new drugs that reduce the production of amyloid plaques or tau protein tangles, which are the hallmark features of Alzheimer’s disease, could slow down the disease’s progression and improve cognitive function. Moreover, new treatments that target , oxidative stress, or neuronal damage could also improve patient outcomes. These new treatments have the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, which is an important goal of healthcare.

Reduced Healthcare Costs

Alzheimer’s disease is a costly disease, both in terms of direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity and caregiver burden. In the United States, the annual cost of caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is estimated to be $305 billion. By 2050, this cost is projected to increase to $1.1 trillion. Developing more effective treatments that delay disease progression, reduce hospitalizations and long-term , and improve quality of life could help reduce these costs significantly. For instance, new treatments that delay disease progression could reduce the need for hospitalization and long-term care, which are major contributors to healthcare costs. Moreover, improved quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease could reduce caregiver burden and improve productivity, which would have a positive impact on the economy.

Increased Research Funding

Despite years of research, the underlying mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease are not fully understood. Moreover, most clinical trials of new treatments have failed to show significant benefits, leading to a decline in research funding. However, weighing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease can help increase funding for research into the disease. New treatments that target the early stages of the disease, such as mild cognitive impairment, could lead to new discoveries and breakthroughs in treatment. Additionally, new treatments that involve personalized medicine, gene therapy, or stem cell therapy could also provide new avenues for research. Investing in research into new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease is critical for improving our understanding of the disease and developing more effective treatments.

Improved Understanding of the Disease

Weighing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease can also lead to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disease. New imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography () and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help identify the changes in the brain that occur during the disease’s progression. Moreover, new genetic studies can identify the risk factors and genetic variants associated with the disease. Such insights can inform the development of future treatments and potentially even a cure. Improved understanding of the disease is critical for developing more effective treatments and ultimately finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

Improved

Alzheimer’s disease is a major public health issue, affecting millions of people around the world. Moreover, the disease has a significant impact on the individuals, families, and society as a whole. Caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease can be emotionally and financially draining for caregivers. Moreover, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease are at increased risk of falls, injuries, and other health problems. Developing new treatments for the disease can have a significant impact on public health, reducing the burden of the disease on individuals, families, and society as a whole. Moreover, new treatments could improve quality of life and reduce healthcare costs, which would have a positive impact on the economy.

Challenges in Developing New Treatments

Developing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease is a complex and challenging process. The disease is multifactorial, with several underlying mechanisms involved. Moreover, the blood-brain barrier presents a significant challenge in delivering drugs to the brain. Additionally, Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic condition that requires long-term treatment, which can be costly and challenging for patients and caregivers. Furthermore, clinical trials of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease have a high failure rate, which can be discouraging for researchers and investors.

Blood-Brain Barrier

The blood-brain barrier is a protective mechanism that prevents harmful substances from entering the brain. However, this mechanism also presents a challenge in delivering drugs to the brain. Many drugs that are effective in treating other diseases are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier, limiting their efficacy in treating Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers are exploring several strategies to overcome this challenge, including nanotechnology, gene therapy, and immune system modulation.

Clinical Trial Failures

Clinical trials of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease have a high failure rate. Many drugs that show promise in preclinical studies fail to show significant benefits in clinical trials. This high failure rate is partly due to the complexity of the disease and the lack of understanding of its underlying mechanisms. However, it is also due to the limitations of current clinical trial designs, which may not be optimal for Alzheimer’s disease. To address this issue, researchers are exploring new trial designs, such as adaptive trials, that allow for flexibility and early efficacy assessments.

Promising New Treatments

Despite the challenges in developing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, several promising treatments are currently under investigation.

Biogen’s Aducanumab

Aducanumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets amyloid plaques, one of the hallmark features of Alzheimer’s disease. In clinical trials, aducanumab showed a significant reduction in amyloid plaques and a slowing of cognitive decline in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. In June 2021, the FDA approved aducanumab for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, making it the first drug to be approved for the disease in nearly 20 years.

Leuco-methylthioninium-bis(Hydromethanesulfonate) (LMTM)

LMTM is a drug that targets tau protein tangles, another hallmark feature of Alzheimer’s disease. In clinical trials, LMTM showed a significant reduction in tau protein tangles and a slowing of cognitive decline in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. However, subsequent trials did not show significant benefits, and further research is needed to determine the drug’s efficacy.

BAN2401

BAN2401 is a monoclonal antibody that targets amyloid plaques. In clinical trials, BAN2401 showed a significant reduction in amyloid plaques and a slowing of cognitive decline in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, BAN2401 has shown potential in reducing the accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain, which could have significant benefits in the long term. BAN2401 is currently in phase III clinical trials, and the results are eagerly awaited.

Other Promising Treatments

Several other treatments are also under investigation, including:

  • GV-971, a drug derived from seaweed that targets gut bacteria
  • Amylyx Pharmaceuticals’ AMX0035, a combination therapy that targets neuroinflammation and neuronal damage
  • Gene therapies that target genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, such as apolipoprotein E (APOE)

While these treatments are still in the early stages of investigation, they hold promise for the future of Alzheimer’s disease treatment.

Conclusion

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Despite the significant amount of research that has been done in the field, there is still no cure for this disease. However, weighing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease has several potential benefits, including improved patient outcomes, reduced healthcare costs, increased research funding, improved understanding of the disease, and improved public health. New treatments that target the underlying mechanisms of the disease could provide more significant benefits than currently available treatments. While there are challenges in developing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, promising new treatments are currently under investigation, and the future is looking brighter for individuals affected by this devastating condition.

It is important to continue investing in research into new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. The disease has a significant impact on public health, and developing new treatments could reduce the burden of the disease on individuals, families, and society as a whole. Moreover, new treatments could improve quality of life and reduce healthcare costs, which would have a positive impact on the economy. We must continue to support researchers and healthcare providers in their efforts to develop more effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.  

 

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