Glandulars
Glandulars help stabilize conditions naturally
by Dana Cox

It’s not unusual these days to know someone with a glandular problem, most likely a thyroid condition. You may have even witnessed some of the symptoms – weight loss or gain, fatigue, etc. What you may not realize is that many of our animal companions suffer from the consequences of glandular dysfunction as well.

A functioning glandular system is crucial to overall health. Glands secrete substances such as hormones into the bloodstream and body to regulate many systems, including metabolism and reproduction. While the gonads (testes and ovaries), and the thyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands may be most familiar to you, the pancreas, and the pineal and thymus glands share important duties as well (some doctors also include organs such as the heart, spleen, prostate, uterus, and brain in this mix too). When glands begin to dysfunction because of poor nutrition, aging, stress or, as some holistic vets suspect, in relation to vaccines, clinical signs start appearing. You may notice a change in your animal’s skin or coat, for instance, even before a problem shows up in the bloodwork. A visit to the veterinarian and subsequent tests may reveal a glandular condition. Conventional treatments include medications that mimic the gland’s function for underactive glands or irradiation to reduce overactive glandular function i.e. hyperthyroidism.

Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine and even some Western doctors hold with another course of treatment, however. Through glandular therapy, doctors supplement processed glandular tissue in an effort to naturally stabilize a malfunctioning gland.
It’s an approach that Ron Carsten, DVM, MS has used in his Glenwood Springs, Colorado veterinary practice since 1990 when he was looking for a way to treat conditions that weren’t responding to other therapies. Now, whenever possible, he uses glandular therapy to help rehabilitate animals with malfunctioning glands.

“What I like to do is recognize that we have glandular dysfunction and then do things that restore proper gland function,” says Dr. Carsten. “This can be done by combining gland derived products and nutritional products. If we can get the gland to work properly, then it can more effectively self-regulate again.”

Dr. Autumn Drouin, a veterinarian in Newmarket, Ontario who is also a licensed naturopath, says glandulars can address a “whole continuum” of difficult to diagnose conditions – the gray areas where “symptoms” have not yet manifested themselves as a clinical disease with a measurable change in hormone levels. “If a condition has been developing over time, the hormonal system will almost always be involved in some way. The holistic practitioner’s job is to determine which gland must be addressed first as well as the appropriate timing for treatment.”

Both Dr. Carsten and Dr. Drouin agree that, if possible, restoring health to a gland is much better than covering up the dysfunction with hormone replacement. “As you go through your day-to-day life, our glands are adjusting minute-by-minute to respond to what’s happening. But if we’re relying on a hormone replacement, then we’re putting that in on a specific schedule,” explains Dr. Carsten. “If it’s once or twice a day, we get that burst of hormone into the body and then it’s going to decline until we get the next dose.”

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Published in the February/March 2003 issue of Animal Wellness Magazine