Episode 26 Season 7: The Cold-COVID Connection and Chonky Dogs

Fascinating new research reveals how catching a common cold may provide surprising protection against COVID-19, reducing infection risk by 50% and viral load by tenfold. We explore the science behind this finding and why children might experience milder COVID symptoms thanks to their frequent colds.

• Recent study shows having a cold in the previous month led to 50% lower risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2
• Participants with recent colds showed tenfold lower COVID-19 viral loads
• Common colds trigger production of airway defense proteins that stay active and help fight other infections
• Children have higher activation of these defense proteins and catch colds more frequently
• "Cross protection" may explain why kids often had milder or asymptomatic COVID cases
• This was an observational study before vaccines were available

We also dive into canine obesity research, examining why 50% of US dogs are overweight and what pet parents can do about it:

• Overweight dogs may live 2.5 years less than dogs at ideal weight
• Retrievers and spaniels show 10% higher food motivation than average
• Labrador retrievers have a genetic mutation (POMC gene) that prevents feeling full
• Multi-dog households and urban environments increase food motivation
• Body condition scoring (BCS) is an underutilized clinical tool for monitoring weight
• Structured feeding times, measured portions, exercise, and food puzzles help manage weight

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:09

Hello science enthusiasts. I'm Jason Zukoski. And I'm Chris Zukoski, we're the pet parents of Bunsen, beaker, bernoulli and Ginger.

Speaker 2 0:18

The science animals on social media.

Speaker 1 0:21

If you love science.

Speaker 2 0:22

And you love pets.

Speaker 1 0:24

You've come to the right spot, so put on your safety glasses and hold on to your tail. This is the Science Podcast. Hello everybody and welcome back to the Science Podcast. We hope you're happy and healthy out there. This is episode 26 of season seven. Chris, how does it feel to be back at school, in the swing of things?

Speaker 2 0:45

It feels awesome and amazing. I made it through the week. It was a short week. Monday was a holiday for us and I said to my grade 12s I'm like woohoo, we made it through the week and they were a little bit tired, but at that time I wasn't tired. By the end of the day, though, I gave all my energy to my last block class and then I sat down and I had a few moments of. That was a week, that was a wrap.

Speaker 1 1:15

Yeah, it takes a lot of energy to be a teacher at any level, because you you have to the kids know when you're low energy and if you want a low energy class, you get that by being a low energy teacher. And I know you both and I both you and I we are very animated when we teach and it does make it a long day, but it's a fun day too.

Back to School Energy Challenges

Speaker 2 1:38

Yeah, it does. It takes a lot of effort. No, it doesn't. I get my energy from the kids, so when they're happy, I'm happy. No, it doesn't. I get my energy from the kids, so when they're happy, I'm happy. And but you're right, when you're just sometimes grinding through. You were telling me about some concept that you were teaching and you just said, oh, I just had to get through it, and now that they've had some practice, they feel better.

Speaker 1 2:00

Yeah, sometimes teaching the why is a big stretch at the highest levels of math and science. Because the kids are just like, wow, does this apply to anything I need to know? And it's because it's a puzzle. Right, high levels of math are just puzzles. It's weight training for your brain. And really at the highest levels of science too, it's critical thinking and weight training for your brain.

Common Colds Protecting Against COVID-19

Speaker 1 2:25

So when we send these kids off to university, they have pretty strong muscles from all of that weight training. So I do get why some kids are like why do we have to do this? How does this relate to anything? And I say you know what? If you go to the gym and you do some of those weightlifting exercises, chances are you'll never, ever have to do lift weight like that in your life. But it makes all of your muscles stronger. So when you do something similar, it's easier. They don't like that. Oh, they don't like that analogy. All right, what's on the show this week? We've got two really good science articles. The first one is about how the common cold may protect folks from COVID-19 infections, or at least the severity of infections. I found that to be interesting so I'd like to get into it. And our science article about pets is about canine obesity.

Speaker 2 3:19

That just makes me think of how our first dog, our first golden retriever, really liked food and when we took her to the vet they said oof, she is overweight and you need to lay off the treats. But they also said that retrievers really can pack on the pounds. So, it'll be interesting to talk about that article and dog obesity.

Speaker 1 3:45

Yeah, all right, let's get to it. There's no time like Science time. This week in science news, let's take a look at some really interesting data about the common cold and COVID-19. I just mentioned, the new school year is starting and with the new school year, you and I are both going to get sick soon.

Speaker 2 4:07

No.

Speaker 1 4:07

I refuse, Jason I never get sick.

Speaker 2 4:12

You absolutely will get, whatever the little gremlins have.

Speaker 1 4:16

Yeah, there's a horrible, awful cold coming within the next two months. I'm going to get something from the kids. I just always do and that's because you and I interact with hundreds and hundreds of kids every day, and they're high school kids. You'd think they'd be not gross, but they are gross because they're kids and I know you're a little bit less susceptible to it than I am, but I have a man cold, I'm sure, coming down the pipe. This study examined whether recent respiratory virus infections, specifically the rhinovirus that's the cause of the common cold, influenced the risk and severity of getting SARS-CoV-2 infections. This comes from Human Epidemiology and the Response to SARS-CoV-2, HEROES study. The period it was looked at was between May 2020 and February 2021, and nearly 1,400 US households participated giving up nasal swabs, so this was happening during the pandemic, obviously.

Speaker 2 5:17

So the new analysis that they have put forth on this study. They focused on more than 1, a thousand participants and they compared the coronavirus positive and to the coronavirus negative cases within 30 days before a household's first COVID infection. Jason, interestingly, the main findings were having a cold in the previous month led to about a 50% lower risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 compared with those without a cold in that same period. So there was a reduced risk of infection by having a cold in the previous month.

Speaker 1 5:58

Huge 50%, that's massive.

Speaker 2 6:00

That's massive. And then also participants who did have a recent cold showed about a tenfold lower SARS-CoV-2 viral load. So, like you said, a milder COVID-19 infection while they were infected or a COVID-19 response. So that lower viral load equaled reduced severity as the immune system actually has less virus to fight off.

Speaker 1 6:29

Now some of the possible mechanisms for this are pretty interesting. We have airway defense proteins in our body and when you get rhinovirus or the cold, that infection triggers the production of these proteins in our airways. Those proteins are part of our immune system. They help fight off infection and they appear to stay active. That kind of pre-primes your body to protect against SARS-CoV-2 if it gets in there shortly after. Now. This is the most interesting thing.

Speaker 1 7:03

I thought this is the most interesting part of it because I think it's. I have a lot of antidotal reporting on this from all of my nieces and nephews. It's about kids versus adults. So kids had a higher activation of these airway defense proteins after a cold and, way more importantly, kids were also way more likely to catch colds, contributing to their higher rates of milder or asymptomatic COVID-19 infections. Do you remember this during the pandemic, like they always said, kids can get COVID, obviously, but they weren't getting as sick as the adults or like they would be in a household with COVID and they just wouldn't. They would be asymptomatic when they didn't have any symptoms.

Speaker 2 7:46

And I always found that interesting and even that played out in the schools. That's why our kids could continue going to schools. Unless there was an active COVID-19 case in a classroom, then the whole class went home to isolate.

Speaker 1 8:01

And the antidotal reporting is we have, we've. We're in a different phase of our life than my siblings because Adam just moved out, so we're empty nesters. Not going to lie, it's been. This last week has been better but like the first couple of weeks, it was super weird knowing he had moved away. But my siblings have little kids and they are constantly sick. Like all the time we meet up with them they're at least two or three of them have some sniffy, terrible cold. They're always have these awful colds.

Speaker 2 8:35

I know it's terrible.

Speaker 1 8:38

But then I wonder if they felt the same way about us when we had like when Duncan was little or when Adam was little. Maybe Adam and Duncan were always sick too.

Speaker 2 8:48

They weren't sick, our kids weren't sick.

Speaker 1 8:50

Okay.

Speaker 2 8:51

Maybe they were. You're probably right, jason, I probably just myself.

Speaker 1 8:54

I don't like being sick, so I just say no, and my body's okay, and I just think when your kid projectile vomits across the living room, you block it from your memory. It's not something you want to remember. And then you just remember that never happened, it's easier not to remember. It's easier to not to remember the projectile vomiting across the living room. Um, that's that happened, Chris. Our kids have done that.

Speaker 2 9:21

I know, but we should have a warning in case someone listening has a sensitive stomach.

Speaker 1 9:26

Sorry, you should have a warning about. This is what's going to happen if you have kids. Lots of projectile vomiting.

Speaker 2 9:31

It also happens with dogs.

Speaker 1 9:33

That's true.

Speaker 2 9:35

True Dogs are oh yeah.

Speaker 1 9:37

Right, okay, but anyways, chris, what's the implications of this?

Speaker 2 9:44

So the broader implications are something called cross protection, which suggests that common colds may actually train the immune system to mount a faster response against new pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. And that is really important from a public health perspective. It helped explain why children often experience milder COVID-19 outcomes compared to adults and, interestingly, you can potentially apply this with the understanding of the airway defense priming system. That could inform strategies to boost innate immunity against respiratory viruses that are beyond COVID-19. So it's like training for later.

Speaker 1 10:27

Before people listening start to schlep their kids all over the place and make them hang out with kids who have colds to potentially protect them from COVID.

Speaker 2 10:36

Like a chicken pox party, Jay.

Speaker 1 10:38

Yeah, exactly, that was a terrible idea back in the day. Anyways, this was an observational study, like they pointed. This pointed out in the limitations of the study. It doesn't show causation, it just shows association. It only focused on one respiratory virus, that was rhinovirus, and it didn't look at others like influenza or RSV, and this occurred early in the pandemic. This was before vaccinations occurred, so it would be really interesting to see what happened as the vaccine started to roll out.

Speaker 2 11:11

if, if it would, the data was just noise or it actually was legit there and I'm a data person, so I would love to see that data collection to be able to compare it with the different variants of COVID-19 and in comparison to the pre-vaccination era, for sure.

Canine Obesity and Food Motivation

Speaker 1 11:32

Anyways, I thought it was just a fun little study. I'm always gently teasing my siblings that their kids are always sick and they always make me sick every time we hang out, but maybe in a roundabout way, they're protecting me from COVID-19. That's science news for this week. This week in pet science we're going to talk about canine obesity and food motivation. The stat in the study we were talking about this with Marla Smith, who is the who has Chesney, the service Roddy about the fact that 50% of US dogs are overweight or obese and that seems like such a shocking amount of dogs.

Speaker 2 12:13

And that's one of the most common canine health concerns is that obesity? Because it impacts, like I said to Marla. I said you are what you eat and unfortunately, having that extra weight or that obesity causes canine health concerns.

Speaker 1 12:33

Yeah, a whole host of them Higher levels of diabetes, arthritis. You have those joint issues cardiovascular disease, skin problems, cardiovascular disease, skin problems and the lifetime and the lifespan studies show that overweight dogs may live two and a half years less than dogs at an ideal weight.

Speaker 2 12:51

We try to keep our dogs really lean and we get comments on that like beaker is like a lean golden retriever she is, she's, she's so strong and so athletic, uh, but she is lean like there's not an ounce of fat on that girl and the vet was so impressed because, how I mentioned earlier about callan and the pitfalls of a retriever getting some chonk junk in the trunk, I know and I definitely I miss that dog I know, and reading and learning, that they may have two and a half years less life than dogs at the ideal weight.

Speaker 2 13:27

But you know what? We got the weight off of her, like she was chonky for a little bit of time until we were made aware that she's a bit. She has a little bit too much love handles to handle.

Speaker 1 13:37

For a while, Duncan was giving her two breakfasts. Yeah, exactly, and that Our oldest son Duncan would help with the dog and Adam was a toddler when we got. He would have been by the time Callan got Chonky like what four. He'd been in any position to start feeding the dog. Anyways, it's not his fault.

Speaker 2 13:53

No but yeah. So when I took Beaker I'm and I take Bunsen and Bernoulli, of course to the vet. I always ask how are their weight we want to make?

Speaker 1 14:07

sure that they are healthy weight so that they can live their best life. Yeah, and Bernoulli and Bunsen though they look burly, they are trimmed too Like they're not. There's no chunk on those guys at all.

Speaker 2 14:15

No.

Speaker 1 14:17

Yeah, bernoulli is he, would you remember? Let me start again like after Bunsen's surgery. Do you remember feeling like how muscly he is? He's like a body, but he was a bodybuilder under all that fur.

Speaker 2 14:29

Yeah, and he lost 10 pounds overnight with his prototaped worm cyst. It's like weight loss surgery, but not yeah, and it was weird because I'm like it's weird that he's gaining weight because we had not changed his diet or anything and we should have clued in that just a second here. He shouldn't weigh this much.

Speaker 1 14:54

Well, it was only about what? Seven pounds more, but still that was. We weren't changing anything. You're right, that was odd. Anyways, the data from the study comes from owner surveys, their feeding practices, the perceptions of their body weight and food motivation, and veterinarian medical records, including body condition scores or BCSs. All of this was published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research and it comes from a massive cohort of dogs, so this is one of those good studies where they actually have huge amounts of animals 50,000 dogs, the DAP cohort, one of the largest canine aging studies worldwide.

Speaker 2 15:31

So you know what makes a difference Breed and genetics.

Speaker 1 15:34

Yeah, I get it.

Speaker 2 15:36

Yep, the sporting group dogs like retrievers and spaniels and setters. They showed a 10% higher food motivation than average, and having that interest in food means that they're hungry. And Labrador retrievers in particular are already known to have a genetic mutation. It's called the POMC gene mutation and that's linked to them not feeling full right. It's an impaired signals that they're like oh, I'm not satisfied, and so they have a higher risk of obesity.

Speaker 1 16:12

Yeah, interestingly enough, they're finding that similar gene mutation in humans who are obese. That you just never feel full, you're hungry all the time. That's like me. I'm hungry all the time. You like me, I'm hungry all the time you do enjoy food, yeah yeah, I gotta watch.

Speaker 2 16:29

I gotta watch what I eat a bit the reason why we see it is because retrievers and spaniels are among the most common us breeds. Because there are so many of them, the breed predisposition has a major population level effect.

Speaker 1 16:43

Dogs were more food motivated, possibly reflecting reduced exercise opportunities and being more bored. Multi-dog households increased food motivation. Yeah, we're a multi-dog household and some owners often resort to free feeding or just leaving a bunch of food available. That may cause competition, and then you have scavenging and overeating and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 17:09

I've heard that too, though Families that say oh, we had six boys, and if you didn't eat and scarf down your food, you didn't get any food.

Speaker 1 17:18

Yeah, you had to eat quickly or you got nothing.

Speaker 2 17:21

Yes, Did that happen in your household? You have two boys and two girls.

Speaker 1 17:25

Well, I don't know, I forget I'd have to talk to my dad. Maybe he wouldn't even remember. Like when I was a teenager, I ate a lot like teenage boys. Well, we had Adam and he would go through four liters of milk in two days. It was unbelievable.

Speaker 2 17:41

Yeah, and Duncan didn't eat as much Weird.

Speaker 1 17:43

No, that's true, he did not. He ate a lot of chewy bars. Oh yeah, that's, true, he would go through 60 chewy bars in a week. Yeah, I don't know. You're onto something, though, like a bunch of teenage boys in the same house. You better get your food or you're getting scraps.

Speaker 2 18:03

So, jason, you might be wondering how the body condition scoring or that BCS works, and it's on a one to nine scale, with five as ideal. So what the veterinarian does is they feel the ribs, the hips and the waist, and it's a key clinical tool, but it's actually underused in practice. So dogs that are involved in sports or working activities, their owners were more likely to know about and apply BCS, which highlights how owner engagement and education drive better monitoring and maybe better food choices for their dogs.

Speaker 1 18:39

Now if the vet does realize the dog's overweight and suggests weight management, it's not going to work if the owners don't follow it, because the dog eats what you feed it. And if you're supposed to feed it a bit different and you don't, that's really on you, not the dog, and there's sometimes miscommunication between vets and owners. That sometimes are frequent barrier. Also, breeds like retrievers may need stricter portion controls or individualized feeding regimens, like they may not be able to follow what's on the bag of food.

Speaker 2 19:13

That's what I noticed too, because we would feed her, callan, what was on the bag, but she was chonky, so we had to not follow those instructions and it's not like she didn't get a lot of exercise like I.

Weight Management Strategies for Dogs

Speaker 1 19:24

I took that dog, I did everything with Callan. She was my Bunsen before there was Bunsen like. We went on walks through the creek. We went on snowshoeing and I didn't I don't think I snowshoed back, then I skied with her all you had cross-country skis.

Speaker 2 19:37

Yeah, yeah, I skied with her all the time you had cross country skis.

Speaker 1 19:39

Yeah, yeah, I skied with her all the time. Yeah, exercise enrichment and that structured feeding, which means you have a meal at six and you have a meal at a certain time of the day and you actually measure the portions, you don't eyeball it. Those are key strategies.

Speaker 2 19:56

Another thing is using food puzzles. Yeah, so the dog works for their food. Yeah, all our dogs love to do.

Speaker 1 20:03

Yeah, all our dogs love food puzzles. They eat really fast but we have them on, not kibble. They're on a raw food diet so you know how those. There's a feeding dish so they eat slower. I've seen that for some dogs but that would be gross for the food we give them.

Speaker 2 20:19

But Gord does it with Doc. He has the feeding dish and he has raw food.

Speaker 1 20:24

Oh interesting, we can try it. We just have to wash it every time.

Speaker 2 20:29

They lick their bowls clean, Jay.

Speaker 1 20:31

There's still bacteria on there.

Speaker 2 20:33

There is. You should wash your dog's bowls.

Speaker 1 20:35

Yes, you should bulls?

Speaker 2 20:46

Yes, you should. So if we're talking about weight management, there is a broader context and importance for talking about this or raising awareness or educating about obesity in dogs, the companion animal obesity has been called the number one nutritional disorder in dogs. Like in humans, canine obesity does arise from a complex web of genetic, behavioral, environmental and social factors. So you can't just blame it on the free feeding, and studies like this one aim to guide vets towards a personalized weight management program that's more tailored to breed tendencies or the environment, and playing on the owner awareness as well. So working in team to help your dog live its best life at the right size and weight.

Speaker 1 21:33

And the biggest advice I can give is to make sure one of your kids isn't giving them a second breakfast after you just give them a breakfast, sure one of your kids isn't giving them a second breakfast, after you just give them a breakfast. That's a lot of calories for a dog, a big old second breakfast, though I'm sure Pippin and Mary would enjoy that.

Speaker 2 21:51

Bernoulli too. You fed him supper and then he looked at me and he was standing by the fridge and he looked at the fridge and he looked at me and he looked at the fridge because he knows that's where his food comes from and he thought he could trick me yeah, yeah, he loves food so much.

Speaker 1 22:04

They all do bunsen, beaker and bernoulli.

Closing and Patreon Appreciation

Speaker 2 22:07

They're super food motivated that makes it easy to train. That makes them easy to train because if they were husky and stubborn? Although bunsen is selective, it has to be a high value treat sometimes before he makes a choice, sometimes to do things.

Speaker 1 22:26

Yes, if the choice is particularly sucky for him. Yeah, oh, hey, we're going to brush you. Here's some kibble he's no. Nope, that's not a good enough. If you have a peanut butter Kong, he's okay. Maybe, maybe it's gotta be pretty high value for some things he doesn't like.

Speaker 2 22:41

Yeah, yeah, he doesn't like being brushed. Bernoulli loves it though.

Speaker 1 22:45

I know he's so weird. He's like the weirdest. He's such an odd dog and that's what makes him cool. All right, that's pet science for this week. That's it for this week. Show Thanks for coming back week after week to listen to the Science Podcast. And a shout out to all the Top Dogs that's the top tier of our Patreon community the Pop Hack.

Speaker 2 23:20

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