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Re: [RC] [RC] Diving Response - Beverley H. Kane, MDTitle: Re: [RC] Diving Response I’ve asked every vet I’ve ever scribed for, all 6 of them, and some I haven’t scribed for, if horses have a dive reflex and no one knew for sure. I guess that’s because there aren’t too many diving horses.In humans the dive reflex is left over from when we were seals—marine mammals have really slow heart beats when they dive to conserve oxygen. Some whales’ hearts beat 3x/minuted. The reflex in humans can be used in emergency situations—ice water on the forehead—to slow down some arrhythmias. Some physicians think it’s safer than doing carotid artery massage on, especially, an elderly person who might then have a clot dislodged from the arterial wall and suffer a stroke. And yes, the heart rate is usually fast for a reason. Assuming physiological similarities between humans and horses, if a horse is tachycardic to keep his blood pressure up and keep his tissues perfused, it’s best to let the heart do its work. If the fast heart beat is due to high circulating levels of adrenalin due to a washout situation (washing out into the vessels as a delayed response) or due to a dangerous arrhythmia, it might pay to try cold water on the forehead. Trouble is, it’s hard to know what one is dealing with. Much as I’ve been tempted to do it for people I crew for, I think its not a good idea to try to artificially pulse down the horse in this way. I know some people with a dive reflex so marked, that every time they see a dive, they go in and order a whisky. beverley On 7/12/06 3:58 PM, "Rosalie Marley" <trailpal@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
_____________________________________ Beverley Kane, MD Horsensei Equine-Assisted Learning & Therapy Woodside, CA http://www.horsensei.com
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