Internet Horse Resource
| |
HorseQuest.com Internet Horse Resource |
| Dr Sarah Ralston of Rutgers University has done some very interesting
research on OCD, that will probably also apply to other developmental
orthopedic diseases , such as ephiphysitis, etc. She recently put out an
article stating that youngsters who develop OCD are insulin resistant, this
is shown on blood tests as them having 2x or more greater amounts of insulin
in their blood than normal.
In essence, were talking about hypoglycemia. According to her research the level of insulin falls when the youngsters are taken off any feed containing simple sugars and short-chain carbohydrates (sweet feed and feed that has added sugar, possibly grains also) and fed hay, and a simple vitamin/mineral supplement that has no added sugars. This would explain why horses with DOD's do better with a straight hay diet vs.. hay/grain. Even a little bit of sugars added to the diet can trigger the insulin resistance. This has lead to Dr. Ralston creating a test for those horse with a genetic predisposition towards DOD's as there is a genetic issue linking OCD and other DOD's to family lines. The greatest advantage of this test is to find out early if your foal is at risk and then monitor feed carefully. This is hot off the press and I'm sure more research will follow. In the mean time, go easy on the sweet stuff. |