Equine Tracheal Mucus Associated with Airborne Particulates

Athletic horses exposed to airborne particles could experience enough mucus buildup to limit performance.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

According to recent study results, if an athletic horse is constantly exposed to microscopic airborne particles then he could experience enough inflammation and mucus to decrease his performance abilities, even if he doesn’t exhibit any outward signs of respiratory distress.

"Poor air quality could contribute to the accumulation of tracheal mucus, which is known to be associated with poor performance in racehorses," explained Melissa Millerick-May, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine.

In a previous study, Millerick-May and colleagues found that horses are often exposed to airborne particulates (i.e., from feed, bedding, and footing) when stabled and that these particles can reach the lower lung, potentially inducing lower airway inflammation.

"Although it seems implicit, there are a limited number of studies that have intimately looked at the relationship between the concentration and size distribution of small-diameter particulates and the presence of tracheal mucus and inflammatory cells in racehorses," said Millerick-May

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

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.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
300 votes · 300 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!