Strike Two for Tarry

Allow me to translate
>
> 1. Increase protein catabolism and gluconeogenesis.

Interferes with metabolism by not allowing the absorption of all important omega 6's and other basic building blocks of all connective cell tissue

> 2. Depression of lymphoid tissue, fibroblasts and eosinophils.

This robs the ability of cellular immune system to self repair.

> 3. Increase the sense of well being and tolerance to pain.

Gets high and cannot feel any pain

> 4. Depress thyroid function and anterior pituitary function through reciprocal influences.

Not only messing with metabolism but hormonal interference

> 5. Influence vasoconstrictive response of the circulatory system to norepinephrine, helping to
> maintain blood pressure.

Narrows blood vessels
>
> 6. Increase renal flow.

Pees more loosing water and salts
>
> 7. Influence gastric HCl and pepsin production.

Leads to gut ulcers
>
> 8. Reduces the secretion of mucus from respiratory and enteric mucosa.

Interferes with the very substances that are supposed to protect the airways, lack of sufficient mucous production often leads to respiratory tract infections


9. Affect to some degree sodium retention and potassium excretion.

Coupled with the increased renal functions leads to dehydration
>
> 10. Stimulate erythropoiesis and myelopoiesis.

Increase in production of blood platelet through bone marrow
Stimulus into reduced blood vessels in the absence of mucous and depressed conective tissue in the absence of sufficient hydration........don't sound too great for the ending either

Horse racing is NOT saying ban steroids, etc which are all part and parcel of the medicine world. We need steroids to accelerate repair. What horseracing IS saying is that dont run the horse until after the jockey club rule prescribed period. Sounds fair to me...

Muhtiman you put it so well about the side-effects of medication. Doctors administer the Depo injection but don't tell you that in the U.S.A. it carries a BLACK-BOX warning.

As for the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccines at your local pharmacy, be afraid, be very afraid of what goes in there. Things like Mercury, Aluminium and something from sharks called squalene all in chicken embryo.(td)

@Jack Dash and Rob Faux

I agree with you whole-heartedly.(tu) A false impression is created of the "misdemeanour". Some people then use "doping" and the next thing some twit thinks the horse was pulled or something along those lines...
The problem (IMO) is that it is too costly and time consuming to conduct proper investigations to a final conclusion, and so a warning is given.
Medication is a fact of life.
{climbs into rock proof container, anticipating some stone-throwing}

Muhtiman Wrote:

---

> Allow me to translate

>
> 9. Affect to some degree sodium retention and
> potassium excretion.
>
> Coupled with the increased renal functions leads
> to dehydration
> >
> > 10. Stimulate erythropoiesis and myelopoiesis.
>
> Increase in production of blood platelet through
> bone marrow
> Stimulus into reduced blood vessels in the absence
> of mucous and depressed conective tissue in the
> absence of sufficient hydration........don't sound
> too great for the ending either

Yes, thanks for translation. But my point is list of effects may be impressive, but so are the effects of a cup of tea.

Eg

- Eliminates free radicals preventing cancer development by blocking the growth of substance that causes cancer. This also arrests aging.

- Connects with cholesterol, absorbs and blocks it.

- Decreases cholesterol level in blood and prevents bad cholesterol caused by oxidation, which prevents narrowing of blood vessel caused by the build-up of bad cholesterol.

- Prevents arterial sclerosis, thrombosis, heart attacks and brain strokes.

- Effective for high blood pressure.

- Blocks a function of enzyme that digests and absorbs sugar and prevents diabetes.

- Suppresses aggregation of platelets and prevents thrombosis such as heart attacks and brain strokes.

- Fights bacteria and viruses and prevents influenza, food poisoning and cavities including including: O-157, Dysentery, Cholera, Mouth bacteria that can damage teeth, gums, and lead to periodontal disease, Piccoli, which causes gastric ulcers.

- Improves conditions of intestines by blocking growth of bad bacteria and enhancing good bacteria like bifid bacteria. This regulates the function of intestines.

- Connects with substances (breath, fish, meat, human waste, etc.) and prevents odor.

- Detoxifies by connecting with poisonous substance and harmful heavy metals (lead, chrome, mercury, cadmium, etc.) and dissolves it.

I don't need you to translate that apparently tea prevents death and may cause immortality and possibly the winner of the 3rd race today...I can read.

Jack at least you are on the right track....what better way to have a more holistic approach to medication.....your tea analogy is spot on....it may not make us live forever but it soothes and calms and has definite health benefits and may help increase one's life.....having said that surely the bigger stables can also afford a more holistic approach by opting for non-steriodal and less invasive treatments with less side effects that may have longer recovery periods but ensure future soundness....

Muhtiman, I've been on various SAIDS my whole life, for chronic asthma and allergies. They are the most commonly prescribed medication for respiratory issues. Flumethasone would not be used to treat any chronic injuries in a racehorse, as there are better and more effective medications for that. Those medications require a much longer withdrawal, and cannot mask pain, only reduce it, so the injured horse would be rested anyway. Intensive daily use of oral or injected SAIDS can cause all kinds of terrible side effects, but they are NOT used every day. It is *cost prohibitive*, and the side effects make it self -limiting. Flumethasone is often used to treat a horse with mild infammation in the respiratory tract, often caused by simple exposure to dust antigens within the unnatural barn situation our horses are kept in - which is exacerbated by the fact that we have to close and lock up every single door and window which prevent good air flow within the stable area. So not every horse given flumethasone is lame or injured. Some may only have mild airway inflammation, which is not an illness, but a reaction to environment. I work in that environment and I suffer too, and I cannot do without the SAID therapy that has been prescribed for me. Some horses will need the same.

Ruby I hear you.....but surely drying out the mucal layers in the respiratory tract will make a horse more prone to dust and other allergens.
....I can understand if a horse has a viral or bacterial infection and is producing excessive mucous and then flumethasone is prescribed but then the horse should not be well enough to be in full training let alone competing in a race....

No, SAIDS must never be prescribed when the horse has a viral/ bacterial infection. They slow the body's immune response. Not all inflammation is caused by virus/ bacteria. Have you ever taken an inti-histamine for hayfever? There is *nothing* worse than a drippy nose. It eventually makes the skin raw. Unfortunately the body often over-reacts to dust and the like, so "drying" up the mucosa doesn't mean making it dry, it means halting excessive production of mucous. Ecessive clear mucous (ie. Not resulting from and infection) is a huge problem in racehorses, because of the environment they are kept in. It causes less efficient gaseous exchange, narrows the airways and thus causes a below par performance. Some horses suffer chronically, others may just have it now and again, with a new batch of bedding, or a particularly windy/ dusty day. The inflammation in the airways is a direct cause of DDSP (dorsal displacement of the soft pallet - what most people know as "choking up"), and epiglottal entrapment. Both of these issues can sometimes be corrected with surgery, but nearly always can be prevented by reducing airway inflammation. Don't get this confused with "gone in the wind"/ "lazy left" or laryngeal hemiplegia, which is a paralysed larynx, often on the left, and this requires surgery.

If a horse has pus in the mucous, this indicates an illness, and should be treated accordingly. These horses should be given a break.

There is definitely a place for SAIDs/ corstisone based drugs in the maintainance of healthy airways. I mean humans pop anti-histamines and use a whole multitude of asthma pumps on a daily basis, just to maintain normal function, and not even athletic function.

The only question I have is, why are horses raced within a few days of a "wash-out" period? surely if there was something wrong that a drug, any drug, had to be prescribed or administered that the time taken to race again should then be extended.....

....Ruby so you telling me when a horse has a drippy nose....... the vet comes along and gives it a shot of cortisone based drugs...... and there is no more snot and the trainer is then able to run it in a race.....:S.....crickey what happened to putting an allergy prone horse in a paddock while the bedding was being changed or using alternate bedding substance than wood shavings or hay.....is horse racing becoming so demanding that to save costs on more expensive bedding we resort to using medications

Which paddocks? Must they go into those dusty, ridiculously tiny lunge rings that are at every training centre? Fully fit and with the possibility of injuring a leg/ jumping out etc? You need to come and spend time in a yard to understand - a fully fit racehorse injures itself in a paddock more often than not. And it cannot sleep in that paddock for the 2-3 days that it tales to treat such and issue! And no, they don't have "drippy noses" - they have pharangeal inflammation sometimes accompanied by excessive mucous production. You can read whatever you want into this. I have given you a reasonable explanation as to the use of SAIDs where there is NO lameness or injury. SAIDs are not going to stop a snotty nose, they will exacerbate it. It's not only bedding, it's feed, teff, skin dander (or should they stop grooming the horses too?), sand from their legs and feet, dust blown into the air from the roads and bedding middens, etc. Paper predisposes hprses to thrush in their hooves, *another* costly affliction to treat. Straw bedding is the most expensive. Paper is not always available. Sunflower husks are coated with chemicals to kill weavils etc. Every one of them has a set of pros and cons. The biggest problem with ALL of them, is availability. Barns contain ALL of these dust antigens and dust mites (you know the ones that are in *everyone's* pillows and couches. Popping pills down horses throats (which would need a consult and prescription if you are a human anyway) is no easy feat, and the volume/ body mass would be ridiculous. State veterinary controls dictate that only vets are allowed to administer such medication in horses, so you are bound by South African Law, not a trainer's whim.