Mint Hints at Laminitis Treatment
Menthol Painkilling Power May Provide Relief to Sufferers
A project funded by The Horse Trust may be able to relieve horses suffering the chronic pain of laminitis. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies are to start testing whether a compound of cooling chemicals, inspired by ancient Greek and Chinese remedies and which has the same properties as mint oil, can be used to treat this common cause of lameness in horses.
Laminitis affects the area where the hard hoof meets soft tissue. About 7 per cent of the British horse population suffers the disease. Its causes are unknown and vets, unable to offer a cure or effective relief from the pain, are frequently obliged to put down otherwise healthy horses to end their suffering.
The new project, led by Professor Sue Fleetwood-Walker, builds on previous work that has established that, although the initial pain of laminitis is caused by inflammation in the hoof, the subsequent chronic pain is nerve pain. This neuropathic pain is not relieved by anti-inflammatory drugs.
Prof Fleetwood-Walker’s team discovered two years ago that the ‘mint’ chemicals have a pain–killing effect when applied in small doses to human skin. This summer they will begin their investigations into whether this synthetic treatment could help horses with laminitis.
Dr Theresia Liecka, a senior lecturer in equine surgery, said: “Laminitis is an awful condition, because it causes a lot of pain sometimes for weeks or months. As a vet, I’m often confronted with animals really suffering, and that’s distressing for the owners too.
“Sadly, we often come to the end of the line therapeutically, despite having done everything we can to deal with the pain. Using menthol gives us an extra opportunity to try to reduce the pain, and save the horse, and we are now using it in selected cases of chronic laminitis.”
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