As dogs age, many develop more than one chronic health condition. New research from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) shows those conditions can dramatically shorten a dog’s lifespan, highlighting the importance of managing multiple diseases together rather than individually.

In a recent study published in GeroScience, researchers with the Dog Aging Project found that dogs with five or more chronic diseases were more than twice as likely to die as dogs living with only one diagnosed condition, regardless of their age or size. The findings suggest that, as in humans, chronic diseases interact in ways that make their combined effects more harmful than each condition alone.

Atlantic herring travel in massive schools that can contain hundreds of millions — and sometimes even billions — of fish. While this abundance is characteristic for one of the most successful vertebrates on Earth, it also creates ideal conditions for viruses, bacteria and parasites to spread.

Now, an international team of researchers led by the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) has discovered that Atlantic herring have an extraordinary level of diversity in a group of immune genes that help recognize invading pathogens. Published in Science Advances, the study found that the fish’s genetic diversity in these immune genes exceeds what has been reported in any other vertebrate studied so far, including humans.