Effective Sweet Itch Treatment With Flaxseed For Horses

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jose_N_Gordon]Jose N Gordon
Sweet itch is a type of skin disease that originated in Iceland and affected about 20 percent of all ponies in the area. This is caused by bite from insects such as the biting midge or the Culicoides that inserts serum into the skin causing it to produce allergic reactions. These insects are not native to the area and it was therefore only a matter of time until it began to affect horses in various parts of the world. The idea of flaxseed for horses as treatment for this type of skin disease, aside from being known as a holistic supplement for horses, is now emerging and one of the main focus of research in horse care industry.
Considered as one of the best supplements for maintaining horse health is ground flaxseed for horses. This is routinely feed by stable managers and horse owners to their pets due to the numerous health benefits it had to offer.Thus, many are also looking at the possibility of it being used for sweet itch treatment. It has been previously used for treating atopic skin disease for dogs and research is now undergoing for its application on horses to determine if it will be effective or not.
Before the idea of feeding flaxseed to horses as alternative treatment for sweet itch came about, horse owners had to rely on the costly standard corticosteroid therapy. According to studies made so far, this supplement is capable of reducing the intra-dermal response of affected horses to the supplement.
The Equine Research Center has observed and tried the use of ground flaxseed for horses that were affected with this condition. They were divided into two groups of three, wherein one was fed with flaxseed while the other group was not. They were given a ration of flaxseed for the next 42 days under controlled conditions and was observed for every 14-day break.
When the results were turned in, they were very telling and it gave more insight for researchers as to how feeding flaxseed to horses can prove beneficial for this type of disease. The skin test for horses that were fed with flaxseed significantly improved as compared to the group of horses that did not receive this kind of supplement throughout the duration of treatment period. These results were generated despite not having much of a difference when it comes to the surface temperature in the controlled environment for these horses.
To be specific, the improvement in horses that were receiving flaxseed as part of treatment had less concentration of long-chain saturated fatty acids on their coat. It therefore creates a chain of reaction with the proteins and minerals that help preserve the quality of the hair and skin of the horse. By preventing any dramatic changes in the amount of saturated fatty acids in the horse's hair, you can also boost or maintain immune response of the equines against any possible causes of allergic reaction.
There are still research and studies ongoing to learn about the benefits of flaxseed for horses when it comes to treating sweet itch. However, researchers who conducted this experiment were able to arrive at a few conclusions for now.
The first conclusion is that introducing flaxseed as part of treatment procedure against atopic skin disease creates no adverse side effects on the skin. As of now, researchers are hoping to conduct another lab study with more participants for a more accurate evaluation of results. However, this is a good start for horse owners worrying about the possibility that their pets will be affected by this skin disease.
Jose N. Gordon writes about the benefits of [http://horseflax.com]feeding flaxseed to horses. You can visit his website to learn more about the promising benefits of [http://horseflax.com]flaxseed for horses as part of their daily diet.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Effective-Sweet-Itch-Treatment-With-Flaxseed-For-Horses&id=6588350] Effective Sweet Itch Treatment With Flaxseed For Horses