Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Don't Dogs Have All the Luck?

Holistic Ways to Treat Cushings Disease versus Conventional Medicine | Pet Herbal Info Blog:
"...Cushings disease is a serious condition that develops in middle aged and older dogs. Since the basic cause of the condition is excess production of cortisol by the adrenal glands, it is also known as hyperadrenocorticism.

Cortisol is a stress hormone that is produced by the adrenal cortex on signals received through ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone). Cortisol plays an important role in metabolism and higher than required levels in the body can lead to symptoms like hair loss, muscle weakness, dry and brittle skin, pot belly and a significant increase in thirst and urination.

Although holistic treatment has been associated mainly with alternative therapies, medical science has slowly started accepting the philosophy of medical care. Holistic health care is not a method of treatment but an approach to how to go about treating disease. Holistic treatments consider that all aspects of life are closely interconnected. Symptoms are simply the body’s way of showing that it needs attention. Fever, for example, is considered as body’s own effort at fighting infection.

Inasmuch as Cushing’s in dogs is concerned, holistic treatments would rather focus on the underlying cause, which is a dysfunction of the adrenal glands. Holistic treatments prefer natural medicine for Cushing’s disease like herbs and dietary modifications that support adrenal health. Natural medicine is based mostly plant based and contains complex compounds. This gives them multiple properties of supporting general health as well as managing specific symptoms.

Pharmaceutical drugs on the other hand are single compounds and based on research that shows their effect on specific organs. While pharmaceutical drugs do have the desired effect and relieve symptoms, they are focused mainly on suppressing symptoms only and are prone to have harmful side effects.

For Cushings, the drugs used for treating the condition actually destroy adrenal tissue. One can very well imagine what an uncontrolled destruction of the tissue of an important endocrinal gland would lead to. For controlling this destruction, the administration of these drugs needs to be closely monitored lest they cause further complications. Most of the monitoring is done by trial and error with the help of regular blood tests.

The bottom line is that it needs to be understood that the basic goal of treatment is the long term wellness of your pet. Regardless of the therapy that you opt for, a broad outlook that encompasses all aspects of the disease and the body is better than achieving a short term goal of suppressing visible symptoms.

We Recommend:

Cushex Drops are a natural, safe and effective blend of both herbal and homeopathic ingredients specially selected to treat Cushings in pets. Each ingredient of this natural remedy has a specific role to play in normalizing adrenal function, balancing corticosteroid levels or reducing the troublesome symptoms of this condition. Cushex Drops are easy to administer and the dosage can be adjusted to suit pets of all sizes..."

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