Insulin resistance is a part of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). There are three criteria for identifying the horse with EMS: Insulin resistance, prior (founder lines) or current laminitis, and general obesity or regional adiposity (areas of abnormal
More than half of 300 horses involved in a study at at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech were found to be overweight or obese.
A team of researchers in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech have determined that horses are facing serious health risks because of obesity.
Of the 300
Management of insulin resistance might lower the risk of laminitis, and one of the cornerstones of management is diet. ?Think of these horses as being in a prediabetic state,? said Nicholas Frank, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, associate professor of
Glucocorticoids have been implicated as a cause of both laminitis and IR. “Our team has been interested in the role that glucocorticoids (corticosteroid drugs or hormones that are involved in carbohydrate metabolism and the body’s response
Owners need to control obesity now by properly managing horses’ diets and increasing exercise levels.
In obese horses insulin resistance might also contribute to widespread inflammation and, thus, vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels), which is the case in human metabolic syndrome.
What exactly does stored fat do to a horse’s body? It wreaks serious havoc on at least 11 vital body functions. Nat Messer, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, an associate professor of equine medicine and surgery at the University of Missouri (UM), presented a
The International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH), a U.K. equine welfare charity, has organized a campaign to help horse owners accurately measure their horses’ weight and design nutrition plans to keep the pounds in check.
Experts at the 2006 AAEP Convention discussed obesity in horses in depth, addressing topics such as adipobiology, insulin resistance (IR), laminitis, glucocorticoids, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (Cushing’s disease), and the seasonality of hormones.
Adipobiology (The Study of Fat in the Body): An Emerging Field
A group of veterinarians gathered at the Land O’ Lakes Purina Mills headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., last fall to participate in discussions on subjects that ranged from Cushing’s disease to proper nutrition for horses young and old. Nicholas Frank,
An archive of Pet Columns from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine is available online at www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/. Requests for reprints of this article may be directed to Mandy Barth,
Q: My 14-year-old mare has severe obesity problems. The veterinarian ruled out Cushing’s disease because she does not exhibit the typical Cushing’s traits. I am afraid to work her for fear that any
Some horses present special challenges, such as being too thin, too fat, or sick. Some horses are finicky and are hard to keep weight on, especially when working. The first option is to increase the feed’s energy density by adding grain or fat to the
Equine nutritionists and wise horse owners have long known that obesity in horses is not a good thing.
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