Cushing’s Disease or Equine Metabolic Syndrome?

Navigating through the volumes of information on equine Cushing’s disease and equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) can be time-consuming, frustrating, and extremely confusing for horse owners. The two diseases are somewhat similar, but treatments differ.
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Navigating through the volumes of information on equine Cushing’s disease and equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) can be time-consuming, frustrating, and extremely confusing for horse owners. Seeking clarity might not necessarily induce dizzy spells, but one might begin to feel much like Alice in Wonderland when she remarked: "It would be so nice if something made sense for a change."

If equine Cushing’s and EMS are both endocrine disorders that share some of the same clinical signs, does it really matter which one is the underlying culprit?

"Absolutely," says Nicholas Frank, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, large animal medicine section chief at the University of Tennessee. "Equine metabolic syndrome is a disorder relating to increased metabolic efficiency and obesity that develops in young and middle-aged horses and ponies, whereas Cushing’s is more common in older horses and ponies and is caused by a small tumor developing in the pituitary gland. "Management of EMS primarily focuses upon weight control and dietary changes. In contrast, the drug pergolide is prescribed to manage Cushing’s disease by suppressing the activity of the tumor.

This article aims to make sense of the world of Cushing’s and EMS. We’ll describe the diseases’ primary features, compare clinical signs and available diagnostics, and highlight key treatment differences

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Written by:

Stacey Oke, MSc, DVM, is a practicing veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. She is interested in both large and small animals, as well as complementary and alternative medicine. Since 2005, she’s worked as a research consultant for nutritional supplement companies, assisted physicians and veterinarians in publishing research articles and textbooks, and written for a number of educational magazines and websites.

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