ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: Adequan... How Often?

Re: Adequan... How Often?

WarholNW@ccmail.apldbio.com
Thu, 27 Jul 95 11:05:36 PDT

We treated my 21 year old ex-endurance Arabian with the initial
treatment, then a booster every 6 months. The initial treatment is 4
injections, a few days apart. Each shot costs 50 bucks, so don't drop
that needle! We administered the shots into the muscle, not right
into the suspected joint.

Does it work? I think it helped my old guy, at least at first. He
has authritis that was keeping him gimpy, and the adequan seemed to
really make a difference. One tidbit- I did not see any change for at
least 2-3 months, which makes sense, I guess. I was not expecting a
miracle cure overnight, and after a few months I was riding him again.
Unfortunately, he injured his front fetlock, so it was hard to
distinguish the injury from the "old horse" problems. He still is a
little bit "clunky", but happy to be out again. We are keeping up with
the boosters, but like a lot of people, I am a little leery about
starting up on vita-flex. I have heard good things about it, but how
will I tell if it is helping, or if the adequan is doing it? I guess
I should not care, as long as the horse is more comfortable. I would
trade my truck for a way to make him 7 again.

Nick

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Adequan... How Often?
Author: Kathy Myers x3004 <Kathy.Myers@syntex.com> at CCMAIL
Date: 7/27/95 10:46 AM

> [... ] I feel that the periodic use of Adequan to
prevent permanent
> joint damage also falls into this category.
> [...]
> Lynn M. Crespo, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor and Chair
> Department of Pharmacology
> Nova-Southeastern University
>
> L. M. Crespo
> lynn@alpha.acast.nova.edu

As Truman already knows, this intriques me!

Please send ideas on how often this could be used to
prevent (hopefully) DJD, or atleast give the horse the
best posible chance of repairing cartilage instead of
just waiting around for it to degenerate. VERY exciting!

I know how often Truman treats Misty... what are you
other people out there doing? I'm really only interested
in GAG's, not MSM so far.

Wow! With an ex-race horse, I was just wondering how
long it would take him to develop arthritis. Now I really
think there's prevention I can do! Did you see the article
in the August Horse & Rider? It gives a good breakdown
of the different types of suppliments out there, what they
really contain, where they come from, and their daily cost.

:) - kat
kathy.myers@syntex.com
in Palo Alto, CA

FDA babble ahead:
Working here at Syntex, I have a good idea of what the
lableing issues are for these products, the FDA restrictions
on 'drugs' and the incredibly high cost of studies needed
to 'prove' affectiveness to the FDA for labeling approval.

The FDA has it's good points. It does make sure the public
is protected from snake oil salesman (the original kind).
But
the costs involved are prohibative. In the case of 'herbal'
therapy, sometimes history and experience and word of mouth
can provide an effective product that is available today
at a (more) affordable cost. It take YEARS... like 10...
to get FDA approval. And money... enough to keep
programmers like me employed... LOTS! And this stuff
is expensive as it is. I'm glad it's available to us today
... if 'unlabeled'. I think it would be far worse to not be
able to get it.

The draw back is the lack of studies proving effectiveness.
I know it works for my horse... er... my adoptive horse,
Rascal. I WILL use Flex Free again. I will use any
Condroitin Sulfate preparation if I think it's needed.
And I'm glad it's there. Unfortunately, for those who
have not used any of these products, they either have
to trust word of mouth, try it for themselves, or attempt
to get the information from a more round about source
than an FDA approved label. It's the draw back of
trying to protect the public from false claims... which
is an honorable ( if buearocratic ) profession.