I would want to see very carefully documented case studies showing ACTH levels (an indicator of the pituitary issue) at seasonal rise times of the year, before and after being on this. It doesn’t help to just test in June, with the longest daylight hour months being the most helpful to these horses. They need to be tested on and off the herb during the worst months.
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Cushings is now also known as PPID - Pituitary Pars Intermedia Disorder. The Pituitary Pars Intermedia is one part of the Pituitary gland. In simple terms it produces the hormones that tell the body to get ready for winter unless it receives the signal “don’t do that”. In horses with PPID the “don’t do that” signal fails and the Pituitary Pars Intermedia goes on producing “get ready for winter” all the time… and it gets bigger as it works all the time… and produces more “get ready for winter”… and so on.
It is now recognized that there is no tumour, no cancer, no foreign growth but only the enlargement of the specific part of the Pituitary gland - the Pituitary Pars Intermedia.
Pergolide is based on a Parkinson’s drug - Parkinson’s disease having a similar reduced/missing “don’t do that” signal.
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Yes, I’m aware of all that, and “tumor” is a poor choice of words, one I got into the habit of using when it was thought to be the case. Everything else remains - so far none of these herbs (and CTB would be considered an “herb” in this context), do anything to address the root cause, only helping (maybe) reduce symptoms.
