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Discussion on Enlarged thyroid in foal - long term ramifications
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New Member:
Allisonh
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 2, 2005 - 9:29 am:
We had a filly born yesterday with an enlarged thyroid. Examining the feed - the mare was receiving aobu 6.5 mgs of iodine a day via a supplement and was on grass hay - so I believe an excess per your article.
The foal is normal in every other way.I had her knees x-rayed and they are normally developed, she is alert, great legs, running around eating etc. What are the long term effects of the enlarged thyroid. Can they ''grow'' into it. Does it effect their metabolism for life. Their reproductive capabilties? I have seen it mentioned that they could be operated on. Does this entail cutting out part of the thyroid?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Jun 3, 2005 - 9:55 am:
Hello Allison,
The thyroid gland swells before other damage is done and so if things look that good right now, I don't think there are any long term effects and even the thyroid is likely to regress. By itself the 6.5 mg's total is not so bad for a 1000 lb horse and should not cause clinical signs but must be looked at in relation to the total diet. Most trace mineral salts contain iodine but grass hays are very low in iodine.
If you like you can test the T3/T4 in the foal and if normal relax, but even low values are not necessarily associated with later development of disease. I would be interested in the numbers and normal values from your lab and how much of any other known source of iodine your mare received. From a treatment standpoint, just simply removing the supplement will cause a rapid return to normal for the iodine in the mare.
What was the supplement you were using and were you using it per instructions so others can be forwarned?
DrO
PS I have some new information on toxic levels and effects that I will add to the article.
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