Correction: Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported indicators of health.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265662.].

Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported indicators of health.

Alternative pet foods may offer benefits concerning environmental sustainability and the welfare of animals processed into pet foods. However, some worry these may compromise the welfare of pets. We asked 2,639 dog guardians about one dog living with them, for at least one year. Among 2,596 involved in pet diet decision-making, pet health was a key factor when choosing diets. 2,536 provided information relating to a single dog, fed a conventional meat (1,370 = 54%), raw meat (830 = 33%) or vegan (336 = 13%) diet for at least one year. We examined seven general indicators of ill health: unusual numbers of veterinary visits, medication use, progression onto a therapeutic diet after initial maintenance on a vegan or meat-based diet, guardian opinion and predicted veterinary opinion of health status, percentage of unwell dogs and number of health disorders per unwell dog. Dogs fed conventional diets appeared to fare worse than those fed either of the other two diets. Dogs fed raw meat appeared to fare marginally better than those fed vegan diets. However, there were statistically significant differences in average ages. Dogs fed raw meat were younger, which has been demonstrated to be associated with improved health outcomes. Additionally, non-health related factors may have improved apparent outcomes for dogs fed raw meat, for three of seven general health indicators. We also considered the prevalence of 22 specific health disorders, based on predicted veterinary assessments. Percentages of dogs in each dietary group considered to have suffered from health disorders were 49% (conventional meat), 43% (raw meat) and 36% (vegan). Significant evidence indicates that raw meat diets are often associated with dietary hazards, including nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, and pathogens. Accordingly, the pooled evidence to date indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, are nutritionally sound vegan diets.

Improvement of clinical outcome and cerebral perfusion in a patient of atherosclerotic cerebral infarction after repetitive hyperbaric oxygen treatment--a case report and literature review.

This is a case report of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2T) for ischemic stroke. HBO2T should be the potential or additional treatment (with thrombolytic therapy) for ischemic stroke according to the preclinical and clinical studies. Hereby, we present a 56-year-old Chinese man with vascular risk factors. He had an acute ischemic stroke on the left corona radiata, with right hemiparesis and dysarthria resulting from atherosclerosis. The patient could not get thrombolytic treatment because the time to ER was in excess of five hours. He experienced great improvement after the general course of HBO2T; this was evaluated with standard rating scales for stroke research and cerebral perfusion images, including brain-computed tomography perfusion (CTP) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Although few clinical trials showed a negative result, we suggest that further trials on HBO2T are still needed. Meanwhile, we emphasize the importance of HBO2T protocol and the selection of a suitable patient, which may influence the outcome.

Diabetic muscle infarction in a patient with acute embolic stroke.

Diabetic mellitus (DM) has many well-known complications. However, there is one rare complication, diabetic muscle infarction (DMI), which is usually under diagnosed. Hereby, we present a 53-year-old Chinese man with a history of DM, hypertension and atrial fibrillation. He had acute onset of severe left lower leg pain and swelling with difficulty in walking 4 days before admission. Physical examination revealed non-pitting and non-erythematous swelling with cold sensation of the left medial calf muscles. Magnetic resonance image (MRI) showed homogenous high signal changes in the calf muscles on T2 images, which indicated DMI. After anticoagulation treatment, the patient had a fair recovery within 4 weeks and he could walk by himself thereafter. DMI is a rare complication of poorly controlled DM. It does have a characteristic clinical presentation and MRI findings. Increased clinical awareness is important for early recognition and correct treatment.