How horses help human athletes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2018 (2800 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Did you know that some of the leading-edge advancements in human sports medicine started with horses?

Horses, particularly race horses, exercise their muscles and joints at a very high rate and some of the research that has gone into looking at the effects of exercise on muscles and joints in the horse has come to benefit humans.

Equine surgeons and sports medicine veterinarians investigate the mechanisms of injury, how to diagnose them and treat them in a clinical setting, much in the same way as doctors of human sports medicine.

One of the mainstays of modern arthritic joint management is corticosteroid injections. Corticosteroids are strong anti-inflammatories which can be used to control arthritis symptoms in a joint thus providing improved range of motion and decreased pain.

Many of the different corticosteroids used in humans were studied in horses. Veterinarians use those same corticosteroids to modify arthritic disease, too. Hyaluronic acid (a joint lubricant and suppressor of synovial inflammation) is another example of a treatment used in both human and horse athletes to control joint pain.

The advent of biological therapies, which use one’s own body to help treat disease, has spawned many amazing new treatments. Platelet-rich plasma dates back to the 1970s but has only really come into routine use in humans and horses since around 2008. The principle is that platelets, although known for their clotting ability, are potent recruiters of healing and anti-inflammatory factors in the body. We use platelet-rich plasma in humans and horses to help heal tendons, ligaments, bone, joints, hearts and many other applications. Much of the arthritic research stems back to horses.

Another biologic therapy called interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein (IRAP) was developed in horses for the treatment of osteoarthritis and has become increasingly popular for the treatment of people. IRAP works by blocking the inflammatory signaling protein — interleukin-1 — within the joint and hence decreases pain and improves range of motion without the side effects associated with regular medications and corticosteroids.

Finally, stem cells have become increasingly popular in human and horse sports medicine for the treatment of a whole variety of diseases and conditions.

In horses, we use stem cells from the sternum or hip bones to regenerate and heal injuries in tendons, ligaments, joints and bones which would otherwise have rendered the horse unsound.
Horses are leading the way in developing stem cell techniques for healing injuries in human knees and shoulders.

If you would like to discuss these promising new therapies for your horse, contact an equine specialist veterinarian for more information.

Chris Bell is an equine veterinarian and surgical specialist who operates Elders Equine Veterinary Service, with clinics in Cartier and Winnipeg. See www.eldersequineclinic.com.