Glossary
Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS).
Direct answer
Equine metabolic syndrome describes a cluster of features whose core is insulin dysregulation. Regional or generalised fat deposits, such as a thickened neck crest, are frequently present as well. The decisive health risk attached to this picture is hormonally driven laminitis.
Insulin dysregulation covers raised resting insulin, an excessive insulin response after sugar intake, and reduced insulin action at tissue level. A widespread confusion equates being overweight with the syndrome: lean horses can be affected and fat horses are not automatically affected. Body condition score alone is not enough.
The name comes from human medicine, but the endpoint differs. In people, metabolic syndrome leads mainly to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, with blood pressure and blood lipids among the criteria. In the horse those consequences are not prominent: laminitis is the clinical endpoint that gives the term its meaning.
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Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID)Body condition score (BCS)
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