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[RC] Gastrogard - Sisu West RanchNews item in the 27 December, 2006 Missoulian"Heartburn drugs linked to fractures of the hip" by Carla K. Johnson AP. "Taking such popular heartburn drugs as Nexium for a year or more can raise the risk of a broken hip...The study raises questions about the safety...The researchers speculated that when the drugs reduce acid in the stomach, they also make it more difficult for the body to absorb...calcium ... co-author Dr. Yu-Xiao Yang of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,..." I do not have any endurance horses that need Gastrogard, so I will not be looking up the original journal article to see if this summary, filtered through an AP reporter, has any validity, but I do think the endurance community should sit up and take notice. When the subject of Gastrogard came up previously, some vets warned that it would be possible that messing around with acid production could have some side effects that would not be good for an endurance horse. This study does show that there apparently is some effect on Ca metabolism in humans. If this also happens in equines, there could be a problem. After long term use we may also see broken bones. Not a good thing, and probably never noticed in horses, since the sample size is smaller and we are not doing a carefully controlled study. More importantly, if the drug is at active concentrations on ride day, and if it is interfering with Ca absorption, there could be an increased chance of colic. Definitely not a good thing. My bottom line: Lets not campaign for another loophole in rule 13. This stuff is not as innocent as some want us to believe. Ed Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 (406) 642-9640 ranch(at)sisuwest(dot)us =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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