The Definition
Insulin Resistant is not actually a disease.
The tendency to gain weight easily and to store fat in times of sparse vegetation was a survival mechanism of many of our horses' and ponies' ancestors. This explains why the breeds that tend to be most at risk of IR, are among the hardiest. For example, Arabians, Morgans, Shetland Ponies and Mustangs.
To see Insulin Resistance as a man made condition, as opposed to an inherent weakness of the horse, is a huge shift away from conventional thinking.
But try looking at it this way: People removed horses from their natural, low sugar and low starch environments, domesticated them, and put them in lush green pastures and barns. There, horses tried their best to adapt to the richer grasses and high sugar and high starch feeds (sweet feeds, grains, oats and molasses to name a few).
When adaptation included excess fat or worse yet, laminitis and founder, people turned around and labeled the horses as having a “disease.”
The Mechanics
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas. It helps the body utilize blood glucose (blood sugar) by binding with receptors on cells like a key would fit into a lock. Once the key -- insulin- has unlocked the door, the glucose can pass from the blood into the cell.
The two greatest consumers of glucose in horses are fat cells and muscle cells. When a horse is Insulin Resistant, these tissues are not as sensitive to the effects of insulin.
Therefore, Insulin Resistance occurs when the normal amount of insulin secreted is not able to unlock the door to cells. The result is that it takes the production of larger amounts of insulin to move glucose out of the blood and into the cells.
It is interesting to note that as more and more people in the U.S. are becoming obese, physically inactive – or both – so, it seems, are more horses becoming diagnosed as IR. States a recent article from The Horse Journal (published December of 2006): “The 1998 Equine Study performed by the National Animal Health Monitoring System reported that over a one-year study period 13 percent of the equine premises surveyed reported having a horse with laminitis. Even if only half of those were related to insulin resistance, that would amount to approximately 540,000 horses per year with IR severe enough to cause laminitis.”
"SKODE" -- aka -- Lori Teresa Yearwood
www.skodeshorsetreats.com
951-572-0709
