Research survey targets Cushing's Disease
The University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) are investigating the global prevalence of Cushing's Disease, one of the most commonly diagnosed endocrine disorders in horses. A 16 question survey will be available to equine practitioners worldwide.
"Our objective is to determine the true prevalence of Cushing's disease worldwide, because until now, previous surveys were only based in the U.S.," said Dr. James Carmalt, an equine surgeon and associate professor in the WCVM's Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. Dr Carmalt and his colleagues will use the practitioner's responses to track both the incidence of the disease around the world and any variations in practitioner's treatments. The team also wish to investigate the need for developing new treatment methodologies.
"Right now, the only available treatment for Cushing's disease requires daily dosing of medications for the rest of the horse's life. It's onerous, time consuming and a huge management challenge," explained Dr Carmalt, who also recommends that horse owners inform their veterinarians about the survey. "If the responses from this survey reflect our impression that practitioners need a new option to offer their clients, our ultimate goal is to develop a one-time treatment for the disease so daily medications for Cushing's disease become unnecessary."
The online survey will be available at www.wcvm.com/veterinarians/cushings_survey.php for the next six months. For more information about the Cushing's disease survey for equine practitioners, contact Dr. James Carmalt (james.carmalt@usask.ca). As part of the survey, practitioners can also provide their email addresses if they wish to receive a copy of the survey results.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
