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RE: [RC] Gastrogard - heidi

Sorry to be slow to respond (my DSL has been down, and have had limited time over the holidays to read my mail on the slow dial-up at my office)...
 
Thanks for sharing this, Ed.  NO drug is innocuous--and this is just one more good example.
 
Heidi


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Gastrogard
From: "Sisu West Ranch" <ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, December 27, 2006 11:08 am
To: "Ride Camp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

News item in the 27 December, 2006 Missoulian

"Heartburn drugs linked to fractures of the hip"  by Carla K. Johnson AP.
"Taking such popular heartburn drugs as Nexium for a year or more can raise
the risk of a broken hip...The study raises questions about the safety...The
researchers speculated that when the drugs reduce acid in the stomach, they
also make it more difficult for the body to absorb...calcium ... co-author
Dr. Yu-Xiao Yang of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,..."

I do not have any endurance horses that need Gastrogard, so I will not be
looking up the original journal article to see if this summary, filtered
through an AP reporter, has any validity, but I do think the endurance
community should sit up and take notice.

When the subject of Gastrogard came up previously, some vets warned that it
would be possible that messing around with acid production could have some
side effects that would not be good for an endurance horse.  This study does
show that there apparently is some effect on Ca metabolism in humans.  If
this also happens in equines, there could be a problem.

After long term use we may also see broken bones.  Not a good thing, and
probably never noticed in horses, since the sample size is smaller and we
are not doing a carefully controlled study.

More importantly, if the drug is at active concentrations on ride day, and
if it is interfering with Ca absorption, there could be an increased chance
of colic.  Definitely not a good thing.

My bottom line:  Lets not campaign for another loophole in rule 13.  This
stuff is not as innocent as some want us to believe.

Ed

Ed & Wendy Hauser
2994 Mittower Road
Victor, MT 59875

(406) 642-9640

ranch(at)sisuwest(dot)us
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