Curcumin Benefits

Curcumin... the powder gold from my perspective and the main herb behind my research and product development. A wonderful and powerful herb indeed. Life Extension magazine just recently released an article regarding the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin for tackling the inflammation behind arthritis. It was cited how curcumin beat out most common pain medications in combating pain associated with arthritis. So, why is curcumin so remarkable on so many aspects? Well, the inflammatory cascade is very complex and complicated. Traditional therapeutic medications commonly only address a single target or event in the inflammatory cascade, which often leaves much to be desired in terms of results as well as often triggers side effects. Herbs, such as curcumin, often address multiple targets in the inflammatory cascade, often producing much better and more complete results. While various pharmaceutical medications often inhibit their targets close to 100%, herbs such as curcumin do not, but instead often modulate their targets by reducing their action back to a more normal level. By doing this, we are often able to obtain results clinically but without the side effects. All to often, if you listen to the TV commercials closely, you will notice the fine print side effects associated with some prescription medications. The reason behind many of these side effects is due to the level of inhibition on certain pathways that they impose. Curcumin does not appear to be this way, based on research, and instead modulates many pathways, instead of just one, in order to obtain results. The potential impact of curcumin on overall health is incredible, but the exact capabilities are beyond this blog. Let's just say that through curcumin's ability to reduce inflammation, there are clinical applications in the symptomatic control of conditions ranging from asthma to arthritis to cancer. Given that in today's research, the link with inflammation is being made to many diseases, the capabilities and potential for curcumin is endless. As a veterinarian, I have prescription medications at my disposal and use them often. They are wonderful tools to have for our patients, but all to often, we are left with a void or gap in the treatment of certain conditions. I feel that diseases of chronicity are all too often not addressed appropriately and more often than not, we are left with prescribing multiple medications for those patients just to keep them comfortable but not necessarily improving their quality of life. Herbs, like curcumin, to me are potential life savers when used properly. They not only potentially allow us to reduce the demand for various prescription medications, but overall, they improve the quality of life more dramatically for the patient and that is what is important. Again, just food for thought and my opinions. Tom Schell, D.V.M.

Ringbone and Arthritis

A common problem to see in our equine patients is what is termed ringbone. Many may be familiar with this term, but unfamiliar with exactly what it is. Ringbone is essentially arthritis formation in pastern region of the front or rear limbs of the horse. To be even more technical, the ringbone is defined as either "high" or "low". High ringbone is arthritis associated with the pastern joint while low ringbone is associated with the coffin joint. Even further, it is delineated as either intra-articular (involving the joint) on non-articular (not involving the joint). Intra-articular ringbone leads to more pain development due to being involved with movement. In many cases, we will clinically diagnose non-articular ringbone in a clinically sound patient, which in most cases is more a cosmetic deformity or swelling in the pastern region. There are many causes for ringbone formation, which are: conformation, genetics, foot balance as well as injury to the region due to excessive use. I would like to demonstrate a few factors in a case involving a patient seen at our clinic. This is a 15 year old warmblood gelding that had a jumping career for the majority of his life.

This is the x-ray image of the RF digital region of the warmblood. Here we can see several things. First, we need to look at overall conformation or alignment of the phalangeal bones, which are P1, P2 and P3. P1 is the bone directly below the fetlock joint, P2 is the middle bone and P3 is the coffin bone which is held inside the hoof capsule. In ideal cases, all three of these bones are in alignment with each other at an angle, which is shown by the red line. As you can see, the bones don't correspond to this line, but essentially have a concave type of architecture in their alignment. This type of alignment leads to increased stress on the joint, which then contributes to joint damage. The arrow in the photo helps to point out the new bone formation or arthritis that has developed in the coffin joint and surrounding area. In this case, the ringbone is intra-articular as well as extra or non-articular.

Here is the x-ray image of the left front digital region. Again, here we have a red line which indicates more or less what the alignment of the three phalangeal bones should be. As you can see, in comparison to the other x-ray, in this foot, the bones are more closely in alignment with one another. However, there is rotation of the coffin bone, which is indicative of laminitis in the chronic sense. The white arrow indicates intra-articular ringbone formation in the coffin joint as well, but to a lower degree than in the left front foot. So, the question comes as to how to treat this patient and reduce his pain levels. In this particular case, we have opted to change the angles of his feet by trimming to help align the bones and change the angle of P3. One has to be careful in terms of trimming and changing angles because many of these guys have adapted to their current angles and the arthritis has somewhat "fused" the joint in that position. The pain that these horses feel comes from not only poor angles but also movement of the arthritis or boney spurs as he moves. In most cases, once the arthritis has bridged the joint and fused, the pain is reduced dramatically. The hard part comes in getting that joint to fuse. That is another story. Aside from trimming, he is being managed on low dose bute therapy once daily in conjunction with a special custom blend of our Cur-OST EQ Green product. He is also receiving initial doses of Adequan to aid in overall joint health. When he presented initially, he was a grade 4/5 in terms of lameness but within one week, he was more comfortable at a grade 2/5. I hope this helps to improve the understanding of ringbone in horses. Best, Tom Schell, D.V.M.

Cancer Thoughts

Cancer...the word is becoming all to common in today's society. Honestly, ask yourself how many individuals do you know that have or have been affected by cancer. In my world, that number is all too high given the number of clients that come in and out of our doors and that's not including those individuals that I am not aware of. I think the last estimate that I read was 3-4 out of 10 individuals are affected by cancer in some fashion. That is 30-40%, which may be a low estimate.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to report to my doctor for my yearly cancer re-evaluation. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2006 and have been in remission since then. This would be year number 6 in remission if all went well. Those affected by cancer directly know what it is like going in for this annual or bi-annual examination. The fear, the worry, the sleepless nights the week before wondering what the findings would be. I have to admit that I do have one advantage in that I am able to evaluate myself throughout the year if I felt a problem was present. I had no problems the year prior and all my own testing was normal. I had no reason to fret, but yet I still did. Sitting in the lobby of the doctor's office was difficult as well as the time spent waiting in the exam room. The triage nurse had commented that my blood pressure was slightly elevated. Gee...I wonder why?
The funny thing is that I soon found peace as I was awaiting the doctor. How? I realized that we literally create what we fear. I changed my mindset and focused on a good outcome, which I knew was reality. The peace then followed and soon I was scheduling my next yearly exam with a clean checkup.

When I was diagnosed in 2006, it was a traumatic event for everyone involved in my life. I look at my diagnosis as a positive turning point in my life, which interestingly enough I am not alone in feeling this way. Many cancer patients report that their cancer diagnosis was a "wake up" call and a life changing event, resulting in positive outcomes on different levels. Out of everything bad comes something good. My change was that I realized how much emphasis I was placing on work and so little on my family. I realized how the stress in my life was impacting me physically and mentally. I realized that a change was in order. My diagnosis also led me to the development of our Cur-OST line of products, which were based on a formula that I developed to aid in my own recovery. We learn so much throughout our lives and I am just pleased to share what I have learned with others.

The topic of cancer is its own blog and too lengthy to get into here. There are a few interesting points that I'd like to make if possible. I encounter several individuals (humans) with cancer as they come in with their pets or horses. The one thing that I have noted with the majority of them is that their doctors are not discussing the importance of their overall health in their recovery. This includes diet, reducing environmental stressors as well as exercise. The patients literally feed off of every word their doctors says and follow their instructions explicitly. Too much is known about the influences of stress, poor health and poor diet on cancer development to ignore. The patients are exposed to deadly chemotherapy and radiation, but little is done to aid in that patient's recovery. It is sad to me to hear the patient's stories as they visit our clinic and my words of advice are often ignored. In end, no matter what your illness or diagnosis...I firmly believe that you have to be your own advocate in your treatment. Research your condition until you are exhausted. Investigate the treatments, their side effects as well as success rates. Look into alternative therapies and consider all your options.

We owe it to ourselves as well as those in our family to do everything possible to ensure our optimal health. I just recently discussed this topic with a client that was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma. I visited his farm to care for his horses and noted that he was not the individual I had remembered from the fall. He was winded and overall tired, not to mention pale. We discussed his condition and the fact that his doctors had attempted various treatments with no results. In the end, I believe he felt he was left with no options to improve his condition. He had made the comment that his doctors didn't seem to care or offer any suggestions. That is a tough pill for me to swallow as a caregiver myself.

I hope and pray that cancer has not affected you, but if it has, think things through. Do you have thoughts on cancer?? I'd love to hear them. Email me!

More thoughts on cancer to follow...

Yours in health.

Tom Schell, D.V.M.
tschelldvm@gmail.com