Animal assisted therapy

INTRODUCTION: Children with acquired brain injury (ABI) are at risk for poor therapeutic engagement due to cognitive impairment, affect lability, pain, and fatigue. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has the potential to improve patient engagement in rehabilitation therapies; however, the feasibility of integrating AAT into the rigorous therapy schedule of inpatient clinical care or its reception by patients, families, and staff is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility and acceptability of incorporating dogs into physical therapy and occupational therapy sessions with pediatric patients being treated on an inpatient rehabilitation unit for acquired brain injury...

This study aims to present a more systematic and developmental research direction by classifying animal-mediation related research trends published in Korea. We analyzed the research trends of 68 domestic animal-mediation programs published in 26 journals over the past 24 years under the premise of the necessity of animal-assisted therapy, which considered a very effective intervention method in the practice areas of various subjects. Therefore, this study examines the year of publication of animal-mediation related research conducted in various academic fields from 1998 to 2022, research data sources, characteristics of research subjects, types of interventions and research topics, research design and intervention sessions, intervention methods, and ethical consideration statements...

BACKGROUND: Animal-assisted therapy, also known as pet therapy, is a therapeutic intervention that involves animals to enhance the well-being of individuals across various populations and settings. OBJECTIVE: This systematic study aims to assess the outcomes of animal-assisted therapy interventions and explore the associated policies. METHODS: A total of 16 papers published between 2015 and 2023 were selected for analysis. These papers were chosen based on their relevance to the research topic of animal-assisted therapy and their availability in scholarly databases...

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders worldwide with high economic costs. Current treatment options show modest efficacy and relapse rates are high. Furthermore, there are increases in the treatment gap and few new medications have been approved in the past 20 years. Recently, psychedelic-assisted therapy with psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide has garnered significant attention in the treatment of AUD. Yet, they require significant amounts of therapist input due to prolonged subjective effects (~4-12 h) leading to high costs and impeding implementation...

BACKGROUND: Dementia has a significant impact on the social, physical, and psychological wellbeing of people living with dementia, their families and society. Animal-assisted interventions can have positive effects on the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia. Equine-assisted services are animal-assisted non-pharmacological interventions which have improved the health and wellbeing of diverse populations. The impact of participating in equine-assisted services on the health and wellbeing of people with dementia is unclear...

Hepatocellular carcinoma and bacterial resistance are major health burdens nowadays. Thus, providing new therapies that overcome that resistance is of great interest, particularly those derived from nature rather than chemotherapeutics to avoid cytotoxicity on normal cells. Venomous animals are among the natural sources that assisted in the discovery of novel therapeutic regimens. L-amino acid oxidase Nh-LAAO (140 kDa), purified from Egyptian Naja haje venom by a successive two-step chromatography protocol, has an optimal pH and temperature of 8 and 37 °C...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pathogens important to aquatic animal health is of increasing concern but vastly understudied. Antimicrobial therapy is used to both treat and prevent bacterial disease in fish and is critical for a viable aquaculture industry and for maintenance of wild fish populations. Unfortunately, phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing is technically difficult for bacteria recovered from aquatic animal hosts resulting in challenges in resistance monitoring using traditional methods...

Urologic Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (UCPPS) is a painful chronic condition with persistent pain originating from the pelvis that often leads to detrimental lifestyle changes in the affected patients. The syndrome develops in both sexes, with an estimated prevalence of 5.7% to 26.6% worldwide. This narrative review summarizes currently recommended therapies for UCPPS, followed by the latest animal and clinical research advances in the field. The diagnosis of UCPPS by clinicians has room for improvement despite the changes in the past decade aiming to decrease the time to treatment...

Radiotherapy is a crucial treatment modality for cancer patients, with approximately 60% of individuals undergoing ionizing radiation as part of their disease management. In recent years, there has been a growing trend toward minimizing irradiation fields through the use of image-guided dosimetry and innovative technologies. These advancements allow for selective irradiation, delivering higher local doses while reducing the number of treatment sessions. Consequently, computer-assisted methods have significantly enhanced the effectiveness of radiotherapy in the curative and palliative treatment of various cancers...

The most prevalent mental illness worldwide and the main contributor to suicide and disability is major depressive disorder. Major depressive disorder is now diagnosed and treated based on the patient's statement of symptoms, mental status tests, and clinical behavioral observations. The central element of this review is the increased need for an accurate diagnostic method. In this context, the present research aims to investigate the potential role of two non-coding RNA species (microRNA and long non-coding RNA) in peripheral blood samples and brain tissue biopsy from patients with major depressive disorder...

(1) Background: Dog-assisted therapy (DAT) is an experiential intervention to promote psychological, physical, and social functioning in children and adults. Only few studies have been conducted on DAT in adults with a mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning (MID-BIF). The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of patients with MID-BIF undergoing DAT in a mental health care facility. (2) Method: Seven patients completed 13 to 15 sessions of DAT. Within two weeks of completing the program, they were interviewed using a semi-structured interview...

BACKGROUND: After becoming notorious for its use as a party drug in the 1980s, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methampetamine (MDMA), also known by its street names "molly" and "ecstasy," has emerged as a powerful treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY: There are extensive data about the risk profile of MDMA. However, the literature is significantly biased. Animal models demonstrating neurotoxic or adverse effects used doses well beyond the range that would be expected in humans (up to 40 mg/kg in rats compared with roughly 1-2 mg/kg in humans)...

AIM: Distraction techniques in paediatric dentistry can be effective in decreasing the child's attention span from an unpleasant or stressful procedure. Distraction is achieved through imagination, audio, and/or visual stimuli. It has been shown that the accompaniment and participation of animals or pets, specifically dogs (Dog-Assisted Therapy or DAT), during medical, oral, and therapeutic activities can improve the physical and mental health of patients, especially children. However, there is limited information available regarding the impact of incorporating a certified therapy dog into the paediatric dental environment as a distraction strategy to alleviate anxiety levels during dental procedures...

INTRODUCTION: ultrasonography in the first trimester of pregnancy offers an early screening tool to identify high risk pregnancies. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have the potential to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and assist the clinician in early risk stratification. OBJECTIVE: to conduct a systematic review of the use of AI in ultrasonography in the first trimester of pregnancy. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature review by searching in computerised databases Pubmed, Embase and Google Scholar from inception to January 2024...

Programs involving animals in therapeutic programs are becoming increasingly prevalent. These programs can vary greatly in their approach, scope, and objectives, and they can significantly impact the development of healthy children and those with various disorders. In this systematic review, we sought to investigate the psychological ramifications of animal-assisted activities (AAA), therapies (AAT), and interventions (AAI). We searched for relevant studies using the EBSCO Discovery Service search engine across 85 databases, utilising appropriate keywords...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify the cerebral physiologic response to aerobic exercise in individuals with a symptomatic concussion, highlighting available knowledge and knowledge gaps in the literature. DESIGN: A systematic scoping review was conducted and reported in keeping with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews. A search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, BIOSIS, and Cochrane libraries was conducted on June 15, 2023 (from database inception)...

INTRODUCTION: Diagnosed in about 10% of children in the United States, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by symptoms including inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Traditional interventions, such as pharmacological and psychological interventions, are often used in conjunction with integrative health options, such as animal-assisted interventions. The objective of this manuscript is to report behavior coding findings from a randomized control trial of children with ADHD...

(1) Background: Muscle hypertrophy, swallowing disorders, and gait abnormalities are clinical signs common to many muscle diseases, including muscular dystrophies, non-dystrophic myotonias, genetic myopathies associated with deficiency of myostatin, and acquired inflammatory myopathies. Here, we investigated underlying causes of this triad of clinical signs in four young French bulldogs via muscle histopathology coupled with whole genome and Sanger sequencing. (2) Methods: Dogs were evaluated by veterinary clinical internists and neurologists, and biopsies were obtained for histopathological diagnosis...

As interest in animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and canine-assisted psychotherapy (CAP) grows, there are increasing calls for the management of related health, safety, and welfare concerns for canines, providers, and clients. Existing health and safety guidelines lack empirical support and are, at times, contradictory. Welfare is increasingly prioritized; however, tools to monitor and manage welfare are underutilized and under-reported. The aim of this study was to provide expert consensus on the minimum health, safety, and welfare standards required to develop and deliver a CAP group program to adolescents experiencing common mental health disorders...

Infrared Thermography (IRT) has become an assistance tool in medicine and is used to noninvasively evaluate heat elimination during and after inflammatory processes or during the recovery period. However, its application in veterinary patients undergoing physiotherapy is a field that requires deep research. This review aims to analyze the application of IRT in the monitoring of animal physiotherapy, using the thermal changes that are present in patients undergoing gait or lameness issues (e.g., inflammation, pain, increased local temperature) as a neurobiological basis...