From:
miamiferret
Date: 2002-03-02 07:12:00 UTC
Subject: Re: adrenal diagnosis
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., toucanvet@a... wrote:
> It has not been demonstrated to be harmful - but
> they said that about Thalidamide too didn't they -
> and it was FDA approved.
Hmmmm, you may be right, but from what I know about Thalidomide, it
was never approved for sale in the U.S. All of the birth defects
were in Europe and Canada. But I'm straying from the topic of
ferrets. :-)
I have two ferrets that have been on Lupron long term. Spaz had his
left removed, Penny had both... actually as much of the right as was
possible, so some tissue did remain. Spaz had a return of symptoms
about a year later, Penny's symptoms never resolved after surgery. I
don't recall exactly when Spaz, who has been receiving it longest,
began receiving Lupron, but I'd have to say two years or more. I'll
have to check with my vet next time I'm there.
If there are any long term effects from Lupron usage, the only one
I've seen is an absolute absence of adrenal symptoms. At this point
in time, I'm pretty confident Spaz and Penny will live a long and
normal life without adrenal problems.
> Moreover, if the ferret is non-surgeical then medical
> treatments have to be tried. There are other drug
> options available besides Lupron.
> Usually these drugs are hormone related SO you have to
> know specifically which hormone levels are elevated so
> that you can use the right drug. IE you cannot block
> testoreone's effect if you use a estrogen blocking drug.
First I'd like to say I'm not a vet, have no medical experience,
etc., etc., so if what I'm about to say is wrong or way off-base,
please feel free to correct any mistatements!
With that said... Since Lupron doesn't block one specific androgen,
but rather acts on the pituitary to stop it from stimulating the
adrenals to produce them, wouldn't this be a better choice than to
simply block a hormone that's being over produced? I know, or at
least I'm pretty sure, that Lupron would have no effect on a tumor,
but if we stop hyperstimulating the adrenals, is there some
possibility that we will stop (maybe even reverse) hyperplasia? Do
you see hyperplasia as a common occurance in adrenal disease rather
than a tumor?
I'd like to know specifically what other hormone blocking drugs can
help, once one knows which hormone is elevated. I have heard of some
usage of Tamoxifen, but don't know how well that has worked. Lupron
seems to work so well in the majority of cases, but cost is obviously
an issue with Lupron.
When Spaz leaves us, and I hope this is a long way off, I wonder if a
necropsy to remove his remaining right adrenal for microscopic
examination would provide any useful information on the long term
effects of Lupron?
mike