Dr. Kevin Toman, a veterinarian, explains how rapamycin can extend dogs' lifespans by up to 15% by reducing cancer risk and inflammation. He recommends 0.1 mg per kilogram of body weight three times weekly with food, taken with olive or tuna oil for better absorption. The drug helps with joint pain, dental disease, and hearing loss, but not cognitive decline.
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Well, hey you guys! Welcome to HelpingPetsLiveLonger.com. I'm Dr. Kevin Toman Toman, and I'm glad you're here. Today we're going to take a close look at Rapamycin for dogs like yours. Why is that so important? Well, I've been a veterinarian for almost 40 years, helping dogs like yours live their longest and best lives throughout the western United States. And during that time, I've sure seen an awful lot of wonder drugs come and go from both veterinary and longevity science worlds. But rapamycin looks like the real deal, and here's why. Rapamycin has been proven to increase lifespan by up to 15% in every mammal species studied to date. How does it do that? Rapamycin extends lifespan by doing two things: reducing cancer risk and reducing inflammation. We'll get back to the cancer in just one second, but the most common sources of inflammation as pets age are their skeletal health and their mouth, periodontal disease. And Rapamycin has been proven to benefit both orthopedic inflammation and periodontal disease. Interestingly, Rapamycin's also been shown to improve hearing loss in older individuals, which can be important when you're a 65-year-old veterinarian like me. Getting back to the cancer, we have found Rapamycin benefits patients with melanoma, anal gland adenocarcinoma, hemangiosarcoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. Now that's an awful lot of -omas, but if your pet is dealing with cancer, please reach out to me and let's talk about whether Rapamycin can help them or not. One thing that Rapamycin does not appear to help is canine cognitive disease, or the dog equivalent of Alzheimer's. We just haven't found much success at all with that, and I believe that tells us that canine cognitive disease has less of an inflammatory component than some other diseases. The dosage of Rapamycin that we recommend is 0.1 milligram per kilogram given 3 times weekly with food, and in a perfect world, we'd also combine that with a little olive oil or tuna oil, as Rapamycin is best absorbed in an oily environment. The Dog Aging Project is using a higher but less frequent dose of 0.15 mg/kg given just once weekly. To be clear, we don't fully understand which dosage regimen is superior and likely won't for some time. One of the things you should understand about rapamycin is that rapamycin can be inactivated by the stomach acidity And so it's very important that you and I protect Rapamycin as it passes through your pet's stomach to the small intestine where it can be absorbed. We sell Rapamycin in two different forms. One is a coated tablet and one is an oral oil suspension which can be flavored to your pet's needs. And both of those are considered acid resistant by the FDA. The other thing you should understand about Rapamycin is that it's very much a prescription drug., and it can only be purchased with your veterinarian's prescription or after a concierge consult with me. If you have any questions about all this, please reach out to me. I'm— we're all in this together, and I'm happy to chat with you. My email is drkevin@thelongevityvet.com. One more time, drkevin@thelongevityvet.com. Thanks, you guys, and have a great day.
