Re: Glucosamine & Condroitin

["Cheryl Shelton" <toltallyice@onewest.net>]

> Carol Burgess wrote:
> > Everyone should know when feeding glucosamine and chondroitin, that they
> > can be fed in combination, but should not be fed together.

> Kathy Myers wrote:
> You are right.  These supplements work great.  However, if you are going
> to post about a problem like feeding them together, it would be helpful
> if you could indicate the source of this information.

Possibly what Carol has heard and was thinking of is the concern one
supplier has promoted about feeding them together. Basically they claim that
if chondroitin sulfate (CS) is elevated in the bloodstream at the same time
as glucosamine (GL), the body will convert the GL into other GAGs instead of
CS, having read its level as plentiful. They claim this could possibly be
harmful in some horses if the GL is converted to Heparin (another GAG). The
Horse Journal questioned the manufacturer about this theory and apparently
never received anything to back it up from them. The HJ addressed it in one
of their issues and claimed they have found no evidence to support this
theory. Dr. Eleanor Kellon was kind enough to go into this in detail for me
recently. Apparently there is no science to back up the concern and the
whole idea is just a theory promoted by a supplier that offers them
separately.

So apparently there is no need to worry, feeding CS and GL in combo is okay.

Cheryl, who also worried about this a one time, but trusts Dr. Kellon's
opinion.