"What is the difference between prescription pain medications and natural therapies?"
I get this question A LOT from our Cur-OST customers as well as from clients of ours in our veterinary practice. Prescription medications are available to treat almost every known malady affecting human and animal kind. Seems like there is a drug to treat everything on TV from restless leg syndrome to decreased sex drive. It can be overwhelming and a concern that I have is that these types of approaches breed hypochondriacs, stating that they have that disease that was shown in a commercial. I think that pharmaceuticals have a big place in the practice of veterinary medicine as well as human medicine, but there are limitations.
The first thing to keep in mind is that it has been estimated that up to 75% of all prescription medications are derivatives of plant or herbal substances. Seems that mother nature provides a possible answer, but that mankind feels pressed to improve the results. Natural therapies (plant/herbal) have been used for centuries in various cultures to treat anything from intestinal upset to skin conditions to cancer. Everyone has used a natural therapy in some shape or form in their life, just look at sunburns and the use of Aloe in various forms. Or how about those that consume various teas and note results such as relaxation or a soothing effect?
Prescription pain medications are a huge area of interest and usage in both the veterinary and human medical field. The medications come in different classes ranging from NSAIDs (tylenol)to narcotics (morphine). The overall function and mode of action varies between the groups, but overall, they do reduce pain and inflammation but from a limited standpoint. Sometimes, when humans try to enhance the ability of plants/herbs through the creation of a new drug, we tend to overdo it slightly. This can result in negative side effects such as gastric ulcers, bleeding and even kidney problems. On the other side of the coin, plant or herbal extracts that have anti-inflammatory and pain reducing capabilities tend to be more gentler in their actions and not an "all or nothing" type of effect. In the category of pain, plant extracts tend to reduce inflammatory mediators more down to a "normal or basal" level, versus prescription medications that can tend to reduce the mediators well below normal, which then can lead to side effects.
I am not against prescription pain medications or any prescription drug, but actually use them a lot in our veterinary practice. There is a time and place for these medications, but we have to be careful. We also use a tremendous amount of natural therapies such as plant/herbal extracts in our patients. In cases of painful conditions, I try to actually combine the two categories which allows us to reduce the dosage of the prescription medication. This then allows us to reduce potential side effects as well as lower the overall cost to the owner. I also believe that the plant/herbal extracts actually have a more broader reaching effect in terms of inflammation reduction versus prescription medications, resulting in better long term results.
Just my thoughts,
Tom Schell, D.V.M.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
New Testimonial
We continue to get new testimonials in on weekly basis with improvement in a variety of equine as well as companion animal conditions. In many cases, these patients have been on long term administration of potentially dangerous NSAID medications such as phenylbutazone in horses. These medications are effective in many cases in terms of reducing the pain associated with the conditions, but are only approaching the inflammation from a single viewpoint and that is COX reduction. Given this "all or nothing" approach, the side effects can be endless ranging from gastric ulceration to kidney disease. The testimonial below is from one of our sponsored eventers, Cassidy Sitton. She normally uses our Cur-OST Plus product in her competition horses with great results, however, she decided to use the product on an older and retired competitor recently.
"My old retired man, Ted, who was an Olympic alternate for Ireland and the World Games, has been going through a pretty rough time with laminitis/cushing's disease and other problems. We've all been really worried about him. He's been on 4 grams of bute a day and has been having some good times and bad times. Well, on a whim, I put him on the Cur-OST Plus product and notice IMMENSE improvement. I've been able to decrease his bute to 2 grams per day and will continue to wean him down. The change has been remarkable. Thank you !!"
Thank you, Cassidy !
Tom Schell, D.V.M.
"My old retired man, Ted, who was an Olympic alternate for Ireland and the World Games, has been going through a pretty rough time with laminitis/cushing's disease and other problems. We've all been really worried about him. He's been on 4 grams of bute a day and has been having some good times and bad times. Well, on a whim, I put him on the Cur-OST Plus product and notice IMMENSE improvement. I've been able to decrease his bute to 2 grams per day and will continue to wean him down. The change has been remarkable. Thank you !!"
Thank you, Cassidy !
Tom Schell, D.V.M.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Chronic Inflammation
"Inflammation, inflammation, inflammation!! It has become quite the buzzword in human products advertised on television. The word 'inflammation' is mentioned in asthma medication commercials, pain medications and even in those targeting cardiovascular health. So what is the story and why all the hype?
The truth of the matter is that "inflammation" is a hot topic in research and in overall health. The process of inflammation is a complicated one, yet one that we are all familiar with to varying degrees. Have you ever stubbed a toe, hit your thumb with a hammer, pulled a muscle or experienced back pain? Unless you are a superhero, I am sure you have to some degree or another. Well, inflammation is a defense mechanism put out by our bodie's immune system to help protect us against infection and aid in the repair of injured or damaged tissue. So, let's pretend we hit our thumb with a hammer. First, we feel the pain, then we experience the swelling and maybe bruising. This is the inflammatory process at work, dilating blood vessels, signaling pain to the brain, recruiting white blood cells to clean up infection and to remove dead tissue. After a few days, the process is complete, swelling is reduced and the function of our thumb is fully restored. This in simplest terms is acute or short term inflammation.
The problem comes when the 'acute' inflammatory response becomes a 'chronic' or long term condition. In most cases, the inflammatory response only lasts a few days or until the tissue is healed, but in some cases the fire of inflammation can continue for weeks, months or even years. When the fire ceases to subside, continual tissue damage is done and signaling proteins that ramp up the immune system continue to be released. This chronic inflammatory response is very typical of long term injuries that fail to heal or fully recover such as tendonitis, arthritis and back pain. If the conditions continue to progress, further tissue damage and cellular function can be altered throughout the body resulting in many other diseases aside from typical injuries. It can weaken the body overall, resulting in predisposition to disease, infection and poor overall health.
Human research links 'chronic inflammation' with a host of diseases ranging from allergies, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, skin conditions and even cancer. So, with big name diseases such as these, there is a big push in the pharmaceutical industry to find answers. Take for instance cardiovascular disease and a baby aspirin regimen. Initially, the benefit was thought to occur secondary to the blood thinning effect (anticoagulant)that aspirin provided. This is true, but they have also discovered that the baby aspirin can help reduce overall inflammation within the body, which then can lower the incidence of cardiovascular disease and even cancer. Yes, I said CANCER. Google search aspirin and cancer and you will find that those that take a baby aspirin per day average a 20% reduction in various types of cancers. Hmmmm. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? This inflammation thing could be valid after all.
The problem with various anti-inflammatory prescription pain medications is that in most instances, they only target one arm or one part of the inflammatory pathway. Well, one part is better than nothing right? True...but we can do better. Our diets and food are the key, which is nothing new to the press. Foods hold magical medicinal values, some providing anti-inflammatory properties and other as anti-oxidants. Some foods, such as fried, actually contribute to the inflammatory process. Sort of like throwing fuel on the fire.
Herbs have unbelievable medicinal properties. You have to remember that over 70% of all prescription medications are formulated after herbs. Plants are the root of all that is good. Many herbs have potent anti-inflammatory properties such as curcumin, boswellia, green tea and ashwaghanda. The beauty is that they don't just approach inflammation from one arm, but are multi-modal and affect inflammation from different perspectives. They provide effective, broad spectrum type coverage that is not "overkill". Prescription medications can tend to be 'over-effective', reducing a natural response to nothing instead of just returning it to normal levels. This is why we tend to see ulcers and kidney failure as a result of certain prescription pain medications.
Don't get me wrong, prescription pain medications are wonderful and absolutely necessary in many instances, but can come with a price with long term use. Herbs are ancient technology that have been research supported to exhibit many health benefits not only for ourselves but also for our pets and horses. The results can be phenomenal.
All our best,
Tom Schell, D.V.M.
The truth of the matter is that "inflammation" is a hot topic in research and in overall health. The process of inflammation is a complicated one, yet one that we are all familiar with to varying degrees. Have you ever stubbed a toe, hit your thumb with a hammer, pulled a muscle or experienced back pain? Unless you are a superhero, I am sure you have to some degree or another. Well, inflammation is a defense mechanism put out by our bodie's immune system to help protect us against infection and aid in the repair of injured or damaged tissue. So, let's pretend we hit our thumb with a hammer. First, we feel the pain, then we experience the swelling and maybe bruising. This is the inflammatory process at work, dilating blood vessels, signaling pain to the brain, recruiting white blood cells to clean up infection and to remove dead tissue. After a few days, the process is complete, swelling is reduced and the function of our thumb is fully restored. This in simplest terms is acute or short term inflammation.
The problem comes when the 'acute' inflammatory response becomes a 'chronic' or long term condition. In most cases, the inflammatory response only lasts a few days or until the tissue is healed, but in some cases the fire of inflammation can continue for weeks, months or even years. When the fire ceases to subside, continual tissue damage is done and signaling proteins that ramp up the immune system continue to be released. This chronic inflammatory response is very typical of long term injuries that fail to heal or fully recover such as tendonitis, arthritis and back pain. If the conditions continue to progress, further tissue damage and cellular function can be altered throughout the body resulting in many other diseases aside from typical injuries. It can weaken the body overall, resulting in predisposition to disease, infection and poor overall health.
Human research links 'chronic inflammation' with a host of diseases ranging from allergies, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, skin conditions and even cancer. So, with big name diseases such as these, there is a big push in the pharmaceutical industry to find answers. Take for instance cardiovascular disease and a baby aspirin regimen. Initially, the benefit was thought to occur secondary to the blood thinning effect (anticoagulant)that aspirin provided. This is true, but they have also discovered that the baby aspirin can help reduce overall inflammation within the body, which then can lower the incidence of cardiovascular disease and even cancer. Yes, I said CANCER. Google search aspirin and cancer and you will find that those that take a baby aspirin per day average a 20% reduction in various types of cancers. Hmmmm. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? This inflammation thing could be valid after all.
The problem with various anti-inflammatory prescription pain medications is that in most instances, they only target one arm or one part of the inflammatory pathway. Well, one part is better than nothing right? True...but we can do better. Our diets and food are the key, which is nothing new to the press. Foods hold magical medicinal values, some providing anti-inflammatory properties and other as anti-oxidants. Some foods, such as fried, actually contribute to the inflammatory process. Sort of like throwing fuel on the fire.
Herbs have unbelievable medicinal properties. You have to remember that over 70% of all prescription medications are formulated after herbs. Plants are the root of all that is good. Many herbs have potent anti-inflammatory properties such as curcumin, boswellia, green tea and ashwaghanda. The beauty is that they don't just approach inflammation from one arm, but are multi-modal and affect inflammation from different perspectives. They provide effective, broad spectrum type coverage that is not "overkill". Prescription medications can tend to be 'over-effective', reducing a natural response to nothing instead of just returning it to normal levels. This is why we tend to see ulcers and kidney failure as a result of certain prescription pain medications.
Don't get me wrong, prescription pain medications are wonderful and absolutely necessary in many instances, but can come with a price with long term use. Herbs are ancient technology that have been research supported to exhibit many health benefits not only for ourselves but also for our pets and horses. The results can be phenomenal.
All our best,
Tom Schell, D.V.M.
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