Elevated Platelets: The Hidden Pattern Behind Many Chronic Issues

If your pet has elevated platelets on lab work, they may have: Shao Yang disharmony.

This concept comes from Chinese medicine, but even there, it’s not commonly recognized. If you look it up, you’ll likely find descriptions that feel abstract or don’t seem to match your pet. That’s part of the problem. The classical descriptions don’t translate to what we see in modern animals.

Dr. Steve Marsden’s work put this on the map. Using pulse diagnosis, he found that about half of dogs who experienced certain diseases were actually the same pattern.

What does this look like in real life?

These cases often show up as conditions that don’t seem related. Most pets will only show one or two things from this list.

Where it shows up tends to depend on the individual. It often manifests at that animal’s most vulnerable system, whether that’s the skin, joints, or digestive tract.

Some pets will have elevated platelets without any symptoms at all. In those cases, we may be catching this pattern early. That creates an opportunity to address the imbalance before it develops into more recognizable disease:

Here are some diseases that are often caused by Shao Yang Disharmony:

• Cruciate ligament tears (past or present)
• Skin allergies (very common)
• Digestive issues in the spring or fall
• Pancreatitis that shows up in the spring or fall
• Collapsing trachea
• GOLPP
• Diabetes
• Cushing’s disease
• Certain kidney diseases
• Protein Losing Nephropathy (PLN)

In Chinese medicine, we use the term pathognomonic, meaning that a pattern shows up so consistently that you should assume it’s there.

For example, a dog with a cruciate tear will almost always have Shao Yang disharmony.

So what’s actually going on?

There appear to be two main drivers that create Shao Yang Disharmony.

1. Chronic stress

This surprises a lot of people.

Their pet is loved, well cared for, eating well. But many pets live in a constant low-level stress state.

Urban environments, noise, lack of downtime, and most importantly, our own stress all play a role. Pets are very attuned to us. If we are stressed, they are often carrying that too.

There also seems to be a connection here with the autonomic nervous system. The balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic tone, and likely the vagus nerve, appears to be involved.

We won’t go deep into that here, but it’s part of the picture.

2. Microbiome imbalance

The second piece is the gut.

These pets tend to have:

• Too much bad bacteria
• Not enough good bacteria
• Not enough fiber to support the good bacteria

When this system is off, inflammation follows.

Why do symptoms flare in spring and fall?

This is where things get interesting.

There was a study in laboratory mice that showed even when diet stayed the same, their gut microbiome shifted between summer and winter.

This is likely an inherited, evolutionary shift.

For millions of years, diets changed with the seasons. Mammals eat different food in the summer (berries, grassy plants) compared to the winter (root vegetables, etc). So specific bacteria in the gut are needed to process these different foods. Our bodies still expect that shift.

In pets with a healthy microbiome, this transition is smooth.

In pets with Shao Yang disharmony, especially when you add in stress, it may not be.

As the microbiome shifts (often starting early in the spring/ fall season and taking months to complete), bad bacteria can take over. That creates inflammation, which can show up as:

• Skin flares
• Digestive issues
• Pancreatitis
• Kidney problems

This is why many pets flare twice a year, or seasonally (ie every spring) even when nothing obvious in their diet or environment has changed.

What do we do about it?

Treatment depends on the pet, but there are some consistent themes.

1. Acupuncture

We often use acupuncture during seasonal flares or as a preventive tool. It helps support the nervous system and can reduce stress. It’s not going to fix everything, but if your pet seems more relaxed or happier after a session, it’s a good sign it’s helping.

2. Chinese herbal medicine

Chinese herbal medicine is often the most powerful tool we have for this pattern. The challenge is that finding the right formula can take some trial and error, and not all veterinarians are trained to recognize or treat Shao Yang disharmony. If you’re curious, it’s worth asking your vet about their experience with Chinese herbs or this pattern specifically.

3. Reduce stress

Reducing stress is one of the most important parts of treating and preventing this pattern.

This doesn’t mean your pet is obviously anxious. Many pets with this pattern are living in a low-level, chronic stress state that builds over time.

Given that, here are some simple stress-reducing ideas you can try (for both you and your pet!):

• More time outdoors
• Classical music
• Gentle bodywork or massage
• Regular walks for pets and unstructured sniffing time
• A calmer home environment (less noise, less chaos)
• Consistent daily routines
• Adequate rest and sleep

Your pet is highly attuned to your nervous system. They pick up on subtle cues like tone, body language, and energy. If you are stressed, they often carry that too, even if they seem calm on the surface.

Just to be clear, this isn’t about blame. These pets are usually very well cared for and extremely loved. It’s just that stress can be subtle, and many animals carry it in ways that aren’t obvious.

Sometimes I think about it the other way around too. Our pets pick up on our emotions, but what if they can actually help us heal? They can be mirrors of our internal state. What if the changes we make for them end up improving our own nervous system as well?

4. Support the microbiome (the good bacteria in the gut)

Supporting the microbiome is foundational. If your pet has elevated platelets on labwork, or has one of the diseases listed above, then chances are high that they have an imbalanced microbiome.

If you want a clearer picture of your pet’s microbiome, you can run a specialized fecal test. This is different from the standard parasite test most veterinarians run. It looks at the actual bacterial populations in the gut and can help guide treatment in a more targeted way.

More and more research is showing how much the gut bacteria influence overall health, including the immune system, stress response, and even behavior. When the balance of good and bad bacteria is off, it can drive inflammation throughout the body.

Our suggestions for this are: First test, then treat. Here are some common treatment ideas:

• Daily probiotics (often rotating strains)
• Adequate fiber in the diet
• In some cases, fecal microbiota transplant

Putting it together

If your pet has elevated platelets, there’s a good chance this pattern is part of the picture.

I’ll keep updating this as I learn more. It’s a fascinating pattern. It’s one of those things that, once you see it, you start to see it everywhere. It is also an evolving topic that we are still learning about and it’s much more complex than what I’ve described here. When Dr. Steve Marsden teaches it, it’s a multi-day deep dive. So keep in mind, these are just the basics.

Conventional medicine doesn’t really have a framework for this. A cruciate tear is seen as a mechanical injury, pancreatitis as a result of a high-fat diet, and allergies as a reaction to pollen.

And while all of those can be true, in some pets, these events may be the endpoint of a deeper, underlying imbalance that has been building over time.

If your pet has had one of these conditions, or you’re starting to see this pattern, it’s a good time to begin making some of the changes outlined above.

Go slowly with these cases. One change at a time. In some situations, especially during the height of seasonal shifts like March or October, better to wait for the season to shift before introducing too many new things.

Small, well-timed changes tend to go much further than trying to do everything at once.

Ultimately, elevated platelets are more than just a line item on a lab report; they might be a window into your pet’s internal environment. By addressing the root causes: stress and the microbiome, we aren’t just treating a symptom; we are hopefully shifting the trajectory of their long-term health.