Tamera Gwinn Gwinn 1
Professor Judy Miller
English 112
14 April 2018 Cushing Disease in Horses Equine cushings disease, recently and more accurately renamed, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is a disease first described in 1932. Advanced clinical symptoms include a long curly coat that will not shed, dorsal muscle wasting, increased thirst and urinating, a pot bellied appearance, lethargy, laminitis and fat pads above the eyes. PPID is mostly a disease of older horses, ponys and donkeys but it has recently started being diagnosed in younger horses, in part, because of more accurate testing that detects slight hormone changes earlier. (Spelta 2015). PPID is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the dopamine producing neurons in the hypothalamus. The degeneration of the neurons in the hypothalamus cause an over production of adrenocorticotropic (ACTH) hormone and a-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (a-MSH). (Spelta 2015). Many other hormones are involved but these two have been most closely studied and assessed for diagnostic purposes. These hormones have a…show more content… By using dosing regime the members of ECIR have seen far fewer reports of side effects.Side effects are not inevitable and many horses are showing rapid improvement in energy levels and attitudes, some within Gwinn 4 days of slowly introducing pergolide and with appropriate nutritional support. (Kellon