Robin wrote:

it appears to be similar to prostrate
problems in elderly human men in that it is something that is quite
common in old age but often not progressed far enough to show
noticable symptoms by the time the horse dies of old age from other
causes (other than the cushings)...

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This used be correct in humans , BUT:
only 20 years ago most actual prostate CANCER used to be found only on
autopsy as it used to be such a SLOW growing malignancy that almost all men
had it when they died but almost all men died of something else first. But
now , Prostate cancers are way more common ,aggressive , more malignant ,
showing up in younger and younger men ,spreading throughout the body
,killing, etc...something has changed.
BENIGN prostate swelling ,which almost all men get as they age , has been
shown to be somewhat controllable/reversible with certain herbs (saw
palmetto...well accepted in the medical community now).
only 20 years ago it was not uncommon for old women to have slow growing
breast tumors which had been there for YEARS and they died of something else
too. Hardly anyone actually KNEW anyone with breast cancer - Now we have
AGGRESSIVE breast cancers in young women which spread and kill(not all of it
can be explained by early detection with mammograms). Now ,one out of EIGHT
women will have breast cancer in this country in their lifetimes...something
has changed.
Tamoxifen (originally made from a tree bark) seems to prevent occurrence and
recurrence in some women,and is a common prescription now.
So...I guess what I'm trying to say is we're probably BOTH right- it's just
that something has changed in our environment or foodstuffs that these once
relatively benign "tumors" only found on autopsy ,are growing more quickly
,producing symptoms in younger and younger horses. Some believe that
changing the available vitamins/minerals/herbs can reverse this and give the
horse a "normal" life until they "die of something else".
Nora R.