Cushing's Disease / Addison's Disease

Cushing's disease, also known as hyperadrenocorticism, is the production of excess hormones from the adrenal glands. Cushing's disease usually strikes older animals with a bucket-full of symptoms that can mimic other diseases.

 

Increased appetite

Increased drinking and urination

Panting

High blood pressure

Bulging abdomen

Skin lumps and discoloring

Hair loss

Muscle weakness

Nervous system disorders

 

Any of these symptoms can occur with the disease. Cushing's often strikes older animals that have been on commercial dog foods their whole lives.

 

The adrenal glands are located above the kidneys. The adrenals produce cortin, a complex of steroid hormones that help regulate body weight, mineral balance, the structure of connective tissue, some white blood cell production, and skin health. Adrenal glands are stimulated to produce cortin by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary gland. Cushing's disease can be triggered by a tumor of the adrenal glands or of the pituitary gland; either one can cause the adrenal glands to run amok and produce an excess of corticosteroids or glucocorticoids.

 

If the endocrine glands are stimulated for too long a period, then they become exhausted and the opposite condition is produced which is Addison's Disease. Addison's, also known as hypoadrenocorticism, is the production of too LITTLE corticosteroids by the endocrine glands. It is the flip side of Cushing's Disease, called Addison's Disease, is very often due to poor liver health.

 

The Cushing's or Addison's are a downstream problem from the poor liver and gut health. To balance the chemicals in the endocrine glands, one must address the health of the gut and the liver first. Therefore, it is crucial that animals are given a proper home made diet and good whole food supplements. As a result, when the gut and the liver work better, they take the burden off the endocrine glands and the production of hormones starts to normalize.

 

You’d be amazed how an animal's body can go back to functioning normally again when it is given the proper nutrients. The body knows exactly what to do if given the right building blocks for health.

 

The standard Veterinary approach is to use drugs that interfere with the body's ability to produce corticosteroids. This is merely treating the symptom of the problem and not getting to the root cause of it. Once the drugs are stopped the problems remain.  Drugs used for these conditions also cause side effects that produce other health problems.  Any drugs are going to stress the gut, liver and kidneys as these organs struggle to deal with them. Oftentimes drugs can make things worse in the long term.

 

Think of it this way - your dog does NOT have Cushing's /Addison's because their body is deficient in a prescription medication. These drugs may be forcing the body to produce less/more corticosteroids, but this is not true healing and poor health remains. You will know this is true because when the drugs are stopped the problem is still there.    

 

The key to restoring long term health is to start supplying the body nutritionally with what it needs to heal and regenerate. In this way you can heal the gut and the liver and the downstream problem - the Cushing's or Addison's Disease - will likely be solved for good.​​

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Click on FREE CONSULTATION for help in improving your dog's liver health. 

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