Prevent laminitis: Wellness Ready stallside insulin tests accelerate Equine Metabolic Syndrome diagnostics

We all know horse owners who can recite entire pedigrees, race records, or a lifetime of judges' scores. But veterinarians and farriers would prefer that owners have the history of their horses’ insulin test results on the tips of their tongues. 

A new stallside diagnostics tool called Wellness Ready provides real-time equine insulin levels from a simple blood test kit; it is now available to veterinarians around the world. With its growing use for horses of all breeds and ages, laminitis prevention is taking a big stride forward.

15 Talking Points on Laminitis Prevention from the BEVA Congress: What Horse Owners Need to Know to Prevent Laminitis

At the 2019 British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress earlier this month in Birmingham, England, three speakers emphasized the need to further educate horse owners on the prevention of laminitis and in the dangers of equine obesity. Their lectures have been condensed down to talking points for communicating with owners about changes in horsecare that may help horses avoid the disease.

Laminitis Research: Might inflammation be an underlying cause of insulin dysregulation and equine metabolic syndrome?

DENVER/September 20, 2019 – Inflammation may be a bigger player in insulin dysregulation in horses than is commonly thought. Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at the University of Melbourne are working to determine if low-grade systemic inflammation might be an important underlying cause of insulin dysregulation.

If they are correct, their findings could help change current dietary recommendations for horses at risk of laminitis, a devastating disease linked to high insulin levels associated with insulin dysregulation.

Video abstract on Equine Metabolic Syndrome in Welsh ponies and Morgan horses wins prize at BEVA Congress

Veterinarians have been upgrading their skills at both communicating information about their research and in making their research more accessible to the public. Laminitis prevention is an area that is in critical need of more outreach. Navigating the literature on laminitis research can be confusing and overwhelming.

At last week's British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress in England, the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) gave an award for video interpretation of equine research. The video abstract they presented is remarkable on two counts: The winning author is an American, and the subject is laminitis prevention and education of horse owners.

Thank you and good-bye: US laminitis research charity Animal Health Foundation ceases operation

Did you feel a little shudder pass through the barn today?  Laminitis research lost one of its main lifelines with the closing of the Animal Health Foundation, a charity in Missouri, USA today. A big page of hoofcare history turned as one of the most trusted equine health charities in the world closed its doors. It's time for us all to sit up straight and realize that nothing lasts forever, no matter how well-meaning, successful, and respected it is. The decision to close was a personal one and the Board of Directors opted not to continue. The closure comes with funds still in the bank. Who'll pick up the slack? Don and Diana Walsh deserve a resounding "Well done!" salute but the job they started 35 years ago is still a work in progress. But progress it has been!

• • • • •

If your horse survived laminitis, or if you have struggled successfully to prevent laminitis in your horse, you may owe some degree of gratitude to a veterinarian and a generous group of horse owners from St. Louis, Missouri.

Possible environmental chemical link found to equine metabolic syndrome and related laminitis in Welsh ponies and Morgan horses

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in a horse’s environment may play a role in the development of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), a leading cause of laminitis. This finding, made by Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at The University of Minnesota, could explain some of the variability in EMS severity that can’t be explained by other commonly measured factors, such as diet, exercise and season.

EVJ Provides FREE Online Access to Latest Research on Endocrinopathic Laminitis

Hoofcare Publishing is happy to share news of a valuable archive of endocrinopathic laminitis research articles now available to readers. All of these articles have been previously indexed and linked by the HoofSearch monthly reports, but they are now available in one place on the Equine Veterinary Journal website--to everyone! Here are the details: 

Laminitis Prevention: British Veterinarians Issue Alert to Prevent Spring Laminitis in Obese Horses

Links between equine obesity and laminitis are well documented, but veterinarians still report an increase in obesity; latest estimates are that as many as fifty percent of all horses in the United Kingdom may be overweight and at risk for related health problems. Today the British Equine Veterinary Association issued an official warning to owners that is valid all over the world. 

Laminitis Researcher Ray Geor to Leave US for Post in His Native New Zealand

Edited from a press release 

Beginning in 2015, Massey University's College of Sciences in New Zealand will be led by internationally-recognized veterinary and agricultural science specialist Professor Raymond Geor, BVSc, MVSc, PhD, DACVIM.

Professor Geor is currently Professor and Chairperson of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine in the United States. In recent years, his research and publications have been invaluable to the understanding of obesity and Equine Metabolic Syndrome in horses, and how it may relate to laminitis, as well as more than 180 other research papers in equine nutrition and physiology.

The university Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey announced today that Professor Geor will replace the current Pro Vice-Chancellor of the college, Professor Robert Anderson, who is retiring later this year.

Professor Geor is a Massey Bachelor of Veterinary Science graduate (1983) who has worked in tertiary education in the United States and Canada for most of the past 30 years. He was raised in Havelock North and attended St John's College in Hastings, both in New Zealand.

He has a Master of Veterinary Science from the University of Saskatchewan, a PhD in Physiology from The Ohio State University and breadth of institutional experience in veterinary medicine and agriculture as a leader/administrator, professor, clinical veterinarian, teacher and researcher.

That experience includes his current role at Michigan State, as well as posts at Virginia Tech University, Kentucky Equine Research Incorporated, University of Minnesota, the University of Guelph and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, as well as a practicing veterinarian in New Zealand.

Geor has been a frequent presenter in the research program at the International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in West Palm Beach, Florida.

He will join the university in March next year.

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Grass's (Missing) Link to Laminitis: Hormonal Imbalance Sets the Stage for Disease

For years, laminitis has been characterized as a disease of the horse's foot. Treatment has centered on relieving pain to the foot and facilitating healthy new growth. But just as important is understanding what caused the laminitis to occur and treating laminitis as a disease of the entire horse, not just the feet. (HC Biovision photo of a laminitis-ravaged horse foot by Dr. Christoph von Horst)

Just when you thought laminitis research was starting to make some sense, the landscape changes. If you haven't been keeping up with laminitis research for the past few years, you've missed grass being given a get-out-of-jail-free card for its lack of a direct role in causing laminitis.

Resource: CSU Video "Hangout" on Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Laminitis

Here's a resource to bookmark and share. Last night, three veterinarians from the Colorado State University Equine Veterinary Teaching Hospital hosted a Google+ "HangOut" on the subject of "Metabolic Problems That Affect Your Horse: Insulin Resistance, Cushings, and Laminitis".