Lower airway disease is all too common among the horse population–the occasional cough in the young racehorse that belies serious disease, the wheezy horse which can’t tolerate his barn, the backyard horse which always seems to have a cough or nasal discharge. It’s no surprise that researchers around the world are engaged in finding the causes and cures of inflamed airway passages. Efforts are primarily directed toward inflammatory airway disease (IAD) and heaves (also called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD; or recurrent airway obstruction, RAO).

For the latest in what’s going on to help your horses breathe easier, read on.

Biologic Basics

The secret’s in the secretion. At Michigan State University (MSU), a team of researchers is investigating the relationship between heaves and excess mucus secretion, the accumulation of which contributes to airway obstruction