Laser acupuncture treatment of equine Cushing's syndrome
Item
Title
Laser acupuncture treatment of equine Cushing's syndrome
Description
Am J Trad Chin Vet Med (2021), Peterman, U.
Journal Publication
issn
1945-7677 (print)
1945-7693 (online)
Date
Language
English
Author(s)
Abstract
Equine Cushing's syndrome (ECS), or pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), is a chronic progressive pituitary disease that occurs almost exclusively in older horses and ponies. Management of this chronic disease can be difficult, particularly in individuals that don't respond to the medication, pergolide, which is one of the only effective treatments at this time. The use of low-level impulse lasers (LLL) to treat ECS are introduced in this paper. They have been applied focally to stimulate acupoints (laser acupuncture) and topically over wounds, joints and other tissues to increase circulation and promote healing. Laser acupuncture is an effective treatment method, which is relatively easy to learn and apply. It is an extremely effective therapy for numerous chronic degenerative diseases. The cases presented in this paper are a small sample of well over 30 ECS patients that have been successfully treated with laser acupuncture. Treatment protocols are presented for optimum laser acupuncture therapy along with a review of laser mechanism of action and appropriate selection. Treatment usually takes between 6 weeks and 3 months, and it appears that even horses that have had the chronic disease for years can still have positive clinical outcomes.
volume
16
issue
1
Abbreviated Journal Title
Am J Trad Chin Vet Med
page start
61
page end
70