I've just received an email from my reviewer saying he has just started
reading the next sequence of posts.  These posts will discuss specific
health problems, how dietary restriction impacts them, and the
possibility that they may have some significance in ferret health.  I
will post them as soon as I receive them and make the necessary
corrections.
 
There are a few VERY IMPORTANT things that need to be recognized in these
posts.
 
1. When I cite a problem impacting a specific system in another species,
I am NOT implying an identical problem will occur in ferrets.  While
caloric restriction is phylogenetically independent, the EXPRESSION of
problems will vary from species to species.  The POINT will be (and
always will be) that IF a problem can be caused in a system in a species,
THEN the chances are extremely good the same system in the ferret will
likewise be negatively impacted.  For example, heavy consumption of
starch in an Ad Libitum diet may cause diabetes in humans, beta cell
tumors in another species, or alpha cell tumors in a third.  The POINT
would be the starchy ad lib diet impacts the PANCREATIC SYSTEM, and the
chances are good it will do so in ferrets as well.  Do not get obsessive
about the degree or exact expression of health problems, but instead
look at the general impact.
 
2. Just because I am concentrating on the effects of an Ad Libitum
diet, that DOESN'T MEAN other factors may or may not contribute to the
expression of a particular illness.  For example, a virus may actually
CAUSE a particular cancer, yet caloric restriction may delay or slow the
expression of the illness.  I don't care WHAT causes a disease, all I am
concentrating on is how the ailment is IMPACTED by caloric restriction.
 
3. There is a point for the discussion of so many health problems beyond
the detailing of illnesses.  The point is that an Ad Libitum diet,
especially one rich in starches, results in a PATTERN of disease that
is statistically predictable.  Some of the examples may not occur in
ferrets, BUT the PATTERN will still exist.  Think in terms of PATTERNS!
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 3976]