Sore Back? Skip The Bute

Horse owners have been known to take medications prescribed to the animals in their care, despite the possible dangers. While some anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and dewormers may be the same in both human and equine medicine, but their formulations can be vastly different; because of this, human ingestion of equine drugs isn't recommended.

An American woman experiencing severe back pain attempted to take some phenylbutazone (Bute) that had been prescribed for one of the horses in her care. She took three doses of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), each suitable for a 400-pound horse, reports the journal Clinics and Practice.

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Three days later, the woman went to the hospital complaining of nausea, vomiting and weakness, which she said she had been experiencing for two weeks. She often had back pain that was controlled by use of over-the-counter naproxen, but reported that this episode was exceptionally painful, which is why she ingested the Bute.

She presented to the hospital with nearly low blood pressure, a high heart rate, and normal O2 levels, as well as dry mucous membranes. Blood work showed a low white blood count, low platelet levels, elevated liver enzymes, and acute kidney injury. Her urine blood screen showed use of amphetamines and marijuana.

Poison control and toxicology were engaged once it was discovered she had ingested the Bute, but no antidote was recommended. She was given an N-acetyl cysteine and sodium bicarbonate drip because of the suspected acute liver damage caused by the phenylbutazone.

After three days of in-hospital treatment, the woman was feeling better and checked herself out.

Though phenylbutazone was used in human medicine for the treatment of multiple forms of arthritis, it was removed from the human medicinal arsenal in 1970 because of an increased risk of agranulocytosis, a life-threatening blood disorder.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Study: Heaves Can Wreak Havoc On More Than Just Lungs

Horses with uncontrolled respiratory disease have more organs at risk than simply their lungs, new Canadian research shows. Drs. Serena Ceriotti, Michela Bullone, Mathilde Leclere, Francesco Ferrucci and Jean-Pierre Lavoie have discovered that horses with uncontrolled respiratory disease are at risk of having pulmonary arterial changes that could lead to heart failure.

Horses that suffer from severe equine asthma have inflamed airways; they also cough and have difficulty breathing. The researchers hypothesized that this condition, which is triggered by dust and mold in a horse's hay and environment, can put horses at risk of pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension occurs when the walls of the pulmonary arteries thicken and increase the horse's blood pressure.

For the study, the research team obtained multiple post-mortem lung samples from 18 horses: six that were in heaves episodes when they died; six that were in remission from heaves from being kept in a dust-free environment; and six that had no heaves and served as controls.

The researchers measured the thickness of the arteries and found that horses with uncontrolled asthma had thicker arterial walls than other horses in the study.

Why the artery walls thicken when a horse has breathing trouble is unknown, but it is hypothesized that the low oxygen content and inflammation may increase the amount of smooth muscle in the artery walls, which makes it more difficult for blood to move out of the lungs. Eventually, this condition could lead to an enlargement and failure of the right ventricle of the heart.

The final part of the team's study focused on potential treatments for pulmonary hypertension in horses: they used 11 asthmatic horses divided into two groups that were treated for a full year with two different treatment protocols. One group had reduced dust exposure, primarily through the feeding of hay alternatives. The second group went on a corticosteroid for the first six months, the had dust control measures added in. Both treatments led to a reversal in arterial wall thickness, but changes in the second group were not seen until the dust control measures were taken.

They scientists determined that the thickening of arterial walls in horses with heaves can be reversed, but environmental changes must be made; the administration of corticosteroids, while helpful, must be made in conjunction with changes in management.

Read the full study here.

Read more at EQUUS magazine.

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