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The Horse February 2019 21
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NANCY S. LOVING, DVM
I
t can be incredibly satisfy-
ing when things fit neatly in
a box—including diagnoses
for equine ailments. But not
all health problems are so simple.
Horses can experience more than
one disease process at the same
time, an occurrence known as co-
morbidity. (Morbidity means being
affected with disease.) The pres-
ence of more than two diseases at a
time is called multimorbidity. These
scenarios can make for confusing
clinical signs and long lists of diag-
nostic tests. They're important to
recognize because if you're treating
only one of multiple reasons for a
horse's clinical signs, you're not go-
ing to solve the problem.
In this article we'll look at the equine
diseases veterinarians most commonly see in
conjunction with other conditions.
Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction
One disease that frequently coexists with
other health issues in horses is pituitary pars
intermedia dysfunction (PPID). It's caused by
an enlargement of the pituitary gland's middle
lobe (the pars intermedia), which results in
an overproduction of hormones that regulate
bodily functions. The disease generally occurs
in horses older than 18, although it can also
manifest in individuals in their mid-teens.
In a recent study British researchers
looked at nine common diseases in more
than 100,000 horses over a 26-year period
simultaneously can be challenging to diagnose and treat
at
Comorbidities
