Re: Legal Remedies and Herbs

[flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu (Flemmer, Linda)]

CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 98-10-27 12:01:32 EST, flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu writes:
>
> << How about proBiotics that folks are starting to use?  Yes they are
> naturally
>  occurring in the horse (ie the gut flora) but they are give in large
> quantities
>  compared to what the horse would normally ingest.  The horse will not die
>  without them, <but their performance will be enhanced>.  Are these banned?
>  Acceptance seems to be widespread for ProBiotics. >>
>
> In what way do probiotics "enhance" performance?

My view - tell me if I'm off base:ProBiotics "enhance" by giving a horse with
marginal gut performance a "boost" in it's ability to digest during periods of
stress when there may be decreased efficiency of the gut flors (or a die off of
the flora - at which point we have a different problem re: endotoxemia?)  Would a
horse normally look to eat these like they would look to lick salt or slurp up
'lytes in water?  If the horse has a C- in gut sounds, he may be rechecked or
held.  If he was B- by using probiotics, perhaps the horse & rider would carefully
continue.

Do the probiotics really work this well in some horses?  Am I looking at a
molehill and calling it a mountain?  (Have I been grabbed bythe marketing
departments of the firms making probiotics so that I think that they are more
important than they are?  I'm usually quite the skeptic.)  Are the other
neutriceuticals so easily explained away as "not a drug"?

BTW - the rule mentions medications vs drugs.  What was the difference.  The words
seem synonomous to me.

Linda Flemmer