The rhizomes of this plant have been used for the treatment of peptic ulcer, as well as colic, oral diseases, urinary disorders, dysentery and inflammation [ 5].
The rhizome of Boesenbergia rotunda is known to be able to treat a lot of ailments including colic, oral diseases, urinary disorders, dysentery and inflammation [ 5], however few studies have been carried out on the pure active compounds derived from this plant.
Our study suggests that there is a relationship between colic and dental disease since we found an increased frequency of dental disease in donkeys that died or were euthanized due to colic than in those that survived.
The anti-milk lobby also claims that consumption of dairy products can aggravate rheumatoid arthritis and has been implicated in colic, acne, heart disease, asthma, lymphoma, ovarian cancer and multiple sclerosis.
A previous descriptive study in the same donkey population also suggested a link between dentition and colic because dental disease was present in 54% of the impacted donkeys, however no control animals were evaluated [ 2, 3].
Among insured horses in France, an overall mortality rate of 2.47% was reported and the most common cause of death was death as a consequence of foaling (dead colts were also relatively common) followed by colic and locomotor disease [ 28].
A subset of symptoms related to the digestive system and gastrointestinal tolerance were identified of particular interest a priori: hard stool, constipation, difficulty having a bowel movement, acute diarrhea, chronic diarrhea, spitting up, regurgitation, vomiting, gastroesophageal reflux disease, colic and crying/neonatal abnormal crying.
Clinical research on donkeys needs to be in continual development since they have different reactions compared to horses in many conditions (e.g. resistance to pain in case of colic), including infectious diseases, making it more difficult to recognize the symptoms normally observed in horses [ 1, 2].
Renal colic is a common disease in Europe and a common cause of visit to the Emergency Department.
Without knowledge of the underlying disease, abdominal colic caused by swelling attacks in the bowel may give rise to surgical intervention (mostly for appendicitis or mechanical ileus).
