OSU professor: Dogs could help diabetes studies

BY SUSAN SIMPSON Comments 1
Published: January 5, 2009

Oklahoma State University veterinary professor Michael Davis talks to sled dog River last year in Alaska. Photo provided by OSU

STILLWATER — Alaskan sled-dogs are among nature’s finest athletes. But they also may be key in finding ways to prevent and treat obesity and type-2 diabetes.

Multimedia

More Info

How do they do it?
Oklahoma State University veterinary professor Michael Davis studies the exercise physiology of sled dogs. Here are some of his findings:

• These canines can rapidly adapt to sustained strenuous exercise in 24 to 48 hours, unlike humans, whose bodies require recovery time from extreme endurance.

• Racing sled dogs have enormous aerobic capacity, with about twice the ratio of oxygen

to body weight

as untrained

sled dogs.

• During periods of racing, sled dogs can burn thousands of calories per day. A 55-pound sled dog can consume the equivalent of 24 McDonald’s Big Macs to fuel their run on any given day. Some of the running dog’s high-fat

diet is converted to energy in the liver and used

as fuel in the initial stages of exercise.

The dogs could help solve diseases in humans, said Oklahoma State University veterinary professor Michael Davis, who left Wednesday on his annual research trip to the Alaskan tundra, where races such as the Iditarod and Yukon Quest are held.

Davis has studied sled dogs for about a decade to learn how they can run hundreds of miles in conditions as cold as minus-40 degrees. Sled dogs burn lots of fat and calories when racing.

"Sled dogs are an excellent example of what is referred to as the athlete’s paradox,” Davis said.

He said in obese humans who develop type 2 diabetes, the muscles take up loads of fat, and the accumulation of the fat in the cell interferes with metabolism. However, in athletes — human or sled dog — there is similar accumulation of fat within the cells, but instead of being insulin resistant, these athletes are even more insulin sensitive than normal.

"So far, no one can explain this, but the sled dogs may provide a great opportunity,” Davis said.

Davis also will study prevention of gastric ulcers and ways to predict which dogs are best prepared for a race, and will test equipment used to measure metabolism. His research is funded by various entities, including the mushers themselves, the Diabetes Research Foundation, and the American Kennel Club.

Davis and his research team, which involves scientists from other universities, will be gone several months and drive hundreds of miles across Alaska during sometimes-extreme weather.

Davis said he’s gotten accustomed to the cold and has learned to dress properly.

"Don’t let anyone kid you, you can tell the difference between minus-40 degrees and minus-50,” he said. "We do the same thing locals do. We stay inside if it is all possible.”

The Yukon Quest starts Feb. 14 in Whitehorse, Alaska. The Iditarod begins March 7 in Anchorage.