What do RAO, COPD, IAD, SPAOD and heaves mean?
RAO – Recurrent Airway Obstruction COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease IAD – Inflammatory Airway Disease SPAOD – Summer Pasture-Associated Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Heaves – also known as RAO, is the syndrome of severe, intermittent, environmentally induced airway obstruction of older horses. Difficulty in breathing out causes the horse’s flanks to heave, usually creating a heave line. COPD is the commonly term used for heaves, but according to an article on www.thehorse.com: “At a workshop in 2000, an international group of veterinary investigators eliminated the term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to technically describe the equine respiratory ailment commonly known as “heaves.” They elected to instead refer to it as recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) to indicate that this respiratory condition is not the same as COPD in humans. RAO is defined as episodes of obstructive lower airway disease triggered by exposure to hay and bedding and characterized by diffi
