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[RC] Adequan vs Legend - Steph Teeter> >I had a question for Susan Garlinghouse in regards to the supplement thread that has been going on recently. In short, I was wondering if you could post a question for me that I am sure would benefit a lot of >your other readers. In short, I was wondering which product – Adequan or Legend – she recommends for certain problems. Such as, which is better for “preventive maintenance” and which is better for an older horse with DJD of the hocks. I’ve never been able to get a clear answer from my vet, but he doesn’t have >horses and I’m not sure realizes how much stress we put on our endurance horses. ---- That’s a really good question, and I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you’re interested more in a practical answer than debating the p-values and historical influence of the senate subcommittees on its use, so forgive me if I gloss over some of the finer biochemical details. Both Adequan and Legend tend to achieve the same end goal of by slightly different pathways. Both have the end effect of increasing the concentration of hyaluronic acid in joint capsules and tendon sheath (and a few other assorted locations). Hyaluronic acid is a nifty little ‘backbone’ molecule that binds water within the joint fluid---the best analogy I can think of is one of those coat hangers with all the clips on it for hanging pants and skirts and things. The more coat hangers you have, the more things you can grab onto. So, the more hyaluronic acid, the more water molecules you can grab. That’s handy, because water is about the only substance on earth that doesn’t compress under pressure and so is a really great shock absorber within the joints. That helps prevent rubbing and friction within the joint during high-concussion which is likely to result in inflammation and, over time, arthritis. So Adequan acts by stimulating the cells that line the cartilage (that’s the layer inside the joint capsule that covers the ends of the bones) to naturally produce more hyaluronic acid. Legend is actual hyaluronate itself, which after injection, is preferentially taken up by inflamed tissues throughout the body, including within joints. Dunno how the body ‘knows’ but that applies to lots of different processes in the body we still haven’t figured out but are happy to take advantage of, anyway. Hyaluronate is also commonly one of the substances injected directly into a joint, usually along with a small amount of a long-acting steroid, but that will only directly affect one joint; whereas systemic administration will affect pretty much all the joints within the body, though to a lesser overall extent. If you’ve ever heard of a horse getting his hocks injected (or knee, or fetlock or coffin joint), that’s what they’re talking about. Not something you do lightly, though, because directly injecting a joint is definitely a veterinary procedure that has to be done exactly right. If you absolutely had to choose between Adequan or Legend, then the general concensus in the online vet community (we have our own discussion groups where we chat about this kind of thing and no, they’re not open to non-vets) is that Adequan is preferred if you have soft tissue involvement (like tendons and ligaments), and Legend is a bit preferred for straight arthritic conditions. Adequan, of course, also benefits arthritic conditions as well, but seems a bit better for general wear-and-tear. If you want the absolute best of both worlds, then do both, and that’s what I do for my horses that are working hard or have some issues they’re dealing with. If I had to choose between one or the other for preventative maintenance, then I would probably go with Adequan, because I think it benefits tendon and ligaments as well as strictly joints a little better, and I want to cover as many bases as possible. For an older horse with DJD, then I think you’ll get more benefit with Legend. As I said, though, the gold standard would be both but hey, we can’t all wake up with Oprah Winfrey’s budget every morning. Someone else asked me if they could only afford a few injections a year if there would be any ‘spiking’ effects and no, there’s no downside to less frequent dosing except that you’re just not getting as much benefit as you would with frequent administration. If I had to time it around a riding season, I would probably use up my budget starting a month or so before the first ride, when presumably, you’re starting to ramp up workouts. If you can give the horse some additional during the season, better. If you can give them some more right at the end of the season when they’re about ready for a rest and probably have some active inflammation to one extent or another, that would be great. The other question someone asked me was whether this was something an owner could do, versus having to call out the vet. Adequan is an intramuscular injection, so most owners can do that. Some drugs (like procaine penicillin) you have to be careful to keep out of veins and such, but Adequan isn’t a problem if you happen to hit a vein. Some of the racetrack people prefer Adequan IV, though I go IM myself. Legend might be bioavailable if you injected it IM, but is best IV---so if an owner were comfortable doing an IV injection themselves, fine. It’s legal for an owner to administer meds to their own horse by any route, but starts getting into gray areas doing it to anyone else’s horse, aside from potential liability problems if you do it wrong. So if your vet is willing to supply you with either Adequan and/or Legend, and/or you’re otherwise able to obtain it somewhere (I don’t know if you can buy it online without a prescription, you probably can), and you’re comfortable injecting your own horse, go for it. Hope this helps. Susan Garlinghouse, DVM
Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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