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Doc-t posted an update
4 years ago (edited)
I’m listening to a podcast on soft tissue injuries with someone I know being interviewed – Dr Lisa Fortier of Cornell. She and another vet are discussing diagnostics and therapies. They are getting deep into stem cell therapy right now but I’m on a break – to be continued tomorrow.
I can’t help to notice that when when I listen to podcasts of veterinarians who lead the field that prevention or root causes are never discussed. How do we prevent the suspensory ligament, for example, from being damaged. They often use the terms “elite athlete” yet if you wanted to see hard work in a horse, go back 100 or more years. Did they get suspensory ligament injuries? If so, how did they keep moving with the rest of the Army traveling 1000 miles?
Another question I have is if regenerative medicine and shockwave treatment are becoming the standard of care following diagnostic blocks, ultrasound and MRI then isn’t this limiting the pool of horses we are treating? It’s not just the cost but the availability of veterinarians able to perform these. What does the “common” horse owner do?
For me, the answer is prevention. It is my mission now to help understand this aspect of horse ownership and to make this available to all horse owners everywhere. For this mission, I am so grateful for your support here. I think I need to get more than 1 podcast out per week to cover all the material that is coming out. What do y’all think? Doc T
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UPDATE!
This morning I’m listening to the 2nd half and I was so grateful to Dr Fortier when she and then her colleague brought up obesity, endocriopathies and EMS (equine metabolic syndrome) and their association with increased soft tissue injuries. “Overfed and undernourished” is a primary ingredient in getting soft tissue injuries (tendons and ligaments).
Unfortunately these surgeons don’t know how to address this other than to restrict calories. In humans, restricting calories has been shown not to solve the underlying issue that increased body fat and the associated protein loss is a hormone issue (insulin) associated with chronic and excessive intake of refined sugar (glucose, fructose and sucrose). Starch = glucose.
Step 1 – stop feeding grain (starch). If necessary, reduce or eliminate hay or soak it in water before feeding.
Step to – add a high quality protein source like soybean meal.
As Dr Fortier says, “the horse owners here like their horses well covered.” She also said in essence: Obesity = inflammation + inappropriate exercise = soft tissue injury. Prevention is so much better and costs less than treatment.
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