Cushing's Syndrome
What is Cushing’s syndrome?
Cushing’s is a disease of the endocrine system. It is caused by an abnormality of
the pituitary gland, which makes the body produce excessive amounts of the hormone
cortisol.1 While thought to
be primarily a disease of older horses, it can also affect horses as young as ten.
What are the symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome?
Symptoms include:2
- A coarse, wavy coat that fails to shed out
- Excessive thirst (may drink as much as 20 gallons/day)
- Excessive urination
- “Pot-bellied?appearance
- Low energy level/depressed
- Eye tumors or blindness
- Compromised immune system
- Laminitis
- Increased appetite w/no weight gain
- Loss of muscle over the topline
- Blood tests may indicate high blood sugar and high blood fats, anemia,
reduced lymphocyte counts, and electrolyte derangements
How is Cushing’s syndrome treated?
Treatment of Cushing’s is difficult, and may be both expensive and long-term. There
are ways to manage Cushing’s in order to make sure a horse is as comfortable as
he can be. With a proper management plan approved by a veterinarian, many horses
with Cushing’s can end up leading long, happy lives. Below are some suggestions
that may be appropriate for your horse.
Some research has shown that Cushing’s can be managed using:3
- Nutrition
- Antioxidants, like Vitamin
C and Vitamin E help with
free radical damage
- Minerals ?Chromium (Quiessence,
Metaboleeze),
Magnesium (Quiessence),
Magnesium 3,000,
E-SE-Mag,
sulfur,
(MSM)
- Omega-3 fatty acids (Omega
Horseshine,
CocoSoya Ultra SP,
BioFlax 20)
Recently, there has been development of some herbal products such as
APF, although research on their success rates is limited.
Because a lot of older horses have trouble chewing, add water to their food to make
sure it is soft to aid in proper digestion.
- Medication
Pharmaceutical treatments for Cushing’s syndrome include
pergolide and cyproheptadine. While these two drugs actually have different
functions, they have essentially the same end result: to prevent the overproduction
of the body’s steroid hormone.4
Be sure to contact your veterinarian if interested in these treatments, as results
tend to vary.
- Comfort
Because horses with Cushing’s do not shed out the way other horses do,
clipping their coat in warm weather is essential to guaranteeing their comfort.
5
In order to make sure that a horse is using his digested food for physical
energy rather than temperature control, be sure to keep him
blanketed when it is cooler outside. It is also important to keep up his
physical strength with light exercise, like hand-walking.6
Cushing’s is sometimes called. . .
7
- Equine Cushings disease (ECD)
- Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID)
- Hyperadrenocorticism
As with all medical issues, please contact your local veterinarian for more information
specific to your own horse.
1 Kellon, E. “Herbal Offers Hope for Cushing’s Syndrome.?Horse
Journal, 7(12), 2000.
2 Ibid.
3 Harmon, J. “The Role of Nutritional Therapy in the Treatment of Equine
Cushing’s Syndrome and Laminitis.?Thorne Research Group, Inc. and Gale Group, 2001.
4Ibid.
5Emmet, P., Emmet, V. & Haffner, J. “Cushing’s Syndrome in Horses.?br>
6Ibid.
7The Wee Little Farm Equine Rehab Center. “Cushing’s Syndrome Definitions,
Explanations and Medications.? http://members.aol.com/pizzazzpbl/definition.htm,
8/8/03.
|