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]