Username:
Password:
Log me on automatically each visit
 
 
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 10:59 am
Post a new topic Post a reply  [ 1 post ]   
Author Message
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 10:12 am 
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 27, 2015 10:20 am
Posts: 515
First off, download his views at:

http://www.bitlessbridle.com/Why_do_hor ... _bleed.pdf

To summarize his views here to give you an idea of what he thinks:

Quote:
• The basic pulmonary pathology is not hemorrhage but edema.
• The anatomical location of the primary problem is not the lungs but the upper
airway. The pulmonary lesions occur only as a sequel to upper airway obstruction.
In other words, the lung lesions are secondary to the primary problem, which is
upper airway obstruction, or asphyxia.

I support the hypothesis that pulmonary edema will occur in any horse that has to
breathe-in (inspire) against the abnormal resistance of a closed or partially closed upper
airway. I define the upper airway as being that part of the respiratory tract lying between
the nostrils and the windpipe at the level of the first rib. Fortunately, in most horses the
degree of asphyxia is partial rather than complete and, accordingly, the clinical picture
runs the gamut from no detectable signs at all, to sudden death. In between, the clinical
signs of partial asphyxia include varying degrees of exercise intolerance, with or without
laryngeal stridor, the rattle of a displaced soft palate and, occasionally, the appearance
of blood-like fluid at the nostrils. In those suffocated horses that survive, the signs are
usually transient and, apart from a few days during which they may show a catarrhal
discharge at both nostrils, most affected horses appear to make a complete recovery.
Nevertheless, as red blood cells are an irritant to lung tissue, repeated episodes of
pulmonary edema are likely to leave a steadily accumulating legacy of low-grade
bronchiolitis. It is, I think, a chronic bronchiolitis from this source that has been termed
“small airway disease” by those researchers who support the hypothesis that “small
airway disease” is the cause of the problem, not - as I believe - its effect.

• The bit is a common cause of upper airway obstruction

• At racing speeds any position of the head and neck other than maximum
extension of the poll constitutes an airway obstruction at the throat. The use of a
bit enables the rider to demand such poll flexion rather easily.

Once it is recognized that the cause of ‘bleeding’ is asphyxia followed by
pulmonary edema, and that this is abnormal, an important step will have been taken
towards a more successful management of the problem.
Racehorses could, for example, be permitted to race in a crossover design of bitless
bridle. Such horses would breathe more freely and would be less likely to develop
dorsal displacement of the soft palate and other problems caused by the bit, such as
epiglottal entrapment.




Dr. Cook does not agree with me that much of the bleeding seen on the track is due to a biofilm infection.

His first premise:

Quote:
Let us first consider the proposition that the hypothetical small airway disease is a virus disease of one sort or another. In the first instance, ‘bleeding’ is too prevalent and too persistent in the same horse over a period of years for us to be able to say that ‘bleeding’ is both started and perpetuated by respiratory virus infections of the lung. A viral pneumonia is essentially an acute and relatively short-lived infection. Furthermore, horses when first experiencing ‘bleeding’ do not have any of the symptoms of a virus infection. They do not have a persistent fever, they do not cough frequently and neither do they have a catarrhal nasal discharge. In addition, ‘bleeding’ does not occur in epidemics that coincide with epidemics of viral respiratory disease.




In this logic, Dr. Cook is typical of all of the old school vets on his view of infectious disease. He assumes that infections must be in the acute form to do real damage, always being accompanied with symptoms of fever, cough, nasal discharge. This is far from the truth in the nature of stealth infections which can be as damaging as any obvious acute infectious syndrome. Certainly the nature of chronic infection was taught in vet school, but it was generally ignored as not important to the over all scheme of pathology in the equine. Stealth infections, infections involving biofilms and cell wall deficient (CWD) forms of all types of pathogens were never taught or known in Dr. Cook's education as a vet student. One horse can indeed be infected for years upon years and bleed from that infection that is never eradicated. I consider bleeding to be in the racing population in epidemic levels and they do not need to be linked to related viral respiratory disease to be considered an epidemic or syndrome in its own right.

It seems the norm in medicine to view anything that is characteristically acute in pathology as having a likely infectious origin, if other obvious causes are not readily apparent. This is a well accepted characteristic of infections which can often bias diagnosis. The word, acute, in medicine means a disease that has an abrupt onset often characterized by fever with rapid progression. The word, chronic, on the other hand, is defined as a disease that lasts a long time, often without obvious spiked systemic inflammatory symptoms or an obvious infectious nature of transmission. I would like to present the proposition here that many of the chronic, historically reoccurring diseases that we experience in the horse may not be as they seem and that those diseases which are labeled, cause unknown, may be microbial instigated. Their manifestation may not necessarily be environmentally (non-microbial, that is) or genetically originated as is often put forth in the literature. Ulcers, diabetes, exercise induced bleeding, colitis, laminitis, cancers, degenerative joint/bone syndromes, heart problems, all as commonly seen in horses, may all have an underlying infectious component that modern vets have overlooked. As an example, some very titillating studies of equine laminitis have been completed suggesting that a factor unique to the bacterium, Streptococcus bovis, activates the hoof MMP-2 enzyme which has been proven to cause lamellar separation. In reference to calcium forming disorders often seen in the body, a controversial pathogen called nanobacteria, has been theorized in such pathology as arthritis, bone spurs, bursitis, cataracts, heart/ciculatory disease, kidney stones, tendinitis, etc. Nanobacteria is still being wildly debated as to actually existing as a life form, but it may and it may be very similar to prions (a non-DNA/RNA infection). Nanobacteria was found to be very difficult to culture and just as difficult to detect, encased in a calcified protective shell which does contain a protein, but any presence of RNA is debatable. Similarly, other microorganism connections can be found in many of the so called chronic equine diseases, if one would look long enough. Most intriguing of all are those forms of microorganisms that have no cell walls at all and are known as L-forms, CWD bacteria, etc. . Much confusion exists out there on how exactly to classify these forms. They are very similar to mycoplasma. I recently discussed the role of L-forms with a Molecular Diagnostics Coordinator of a local metropolitan Hospital Pathology lab ,and she had no idea exactly what I was talking about. This is typical of how our current medical professionals do not appreciate the importance of cell wall deficient bacteria as a disease causing organism. Did you know that the use of many of the common antibiotics will actually cause normal bacteria to morph into a L-form? And did you know that L-forms are not easily culturable or easily treated? Dr. Lida Mattman is the current researcher that has taken L-form research to a whole new level. She has linked and cultured L-forms to such human diseases as lyme, Tuberculosis, Parkinson's, MS, sarcoidosis, and over other so called incurable diseases. Modern medicine, both human and animal, tends to relegate many of the acute syndromes to infections while declaring chronic conditions to genetics or unknowns. The modern researcher still considers the use of the Koch's Postulates, the gold standard in classifying something an infection and something not. Koch's Postulates are no longer viable criteria in defining a disease, microbe-based. It is becoming increasingly obvious that there are many microorganisms that exist which are not cultivable under our current traditional lab techniques and are not easily introduced into another individual to cause an identical infection as Koch once believed. The medical establishment must open up their horizons to new types of microbes that defy these Postulates. Only then can we progress and know truth.


It seems quite likely to me that if indeed a biofilm infection is at the heart of our racetrack bleeding problem—that it is in all probability not a simple bacterial biofilm. It could quite likely be made up of a combination of bacteria and fungal components all working in a synergistic environment to further each's goal of survival to the detriment of our racehorse's health. Not only are biofilms off the radar screen of our racetrack vets but a hybrid biofilm consisting of bacteria and fungi would be totally unheard of by this group! Many times, fungi will be secondary colonizers of a biofilm. It has been written that bacteria in these hybrid biofilms can be up to 4000x more resistant to our common antibiotics and the quencher is that common antibiotics have no effect on the fungi found within. A recent study found fungi to be a consistent component in biofilms in sinus mucosal samples from human patients with eosinophilic mucin chronic rhinosinusitis (EMCRS) and allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS). Why should the equine be much different? Certainly, one of the old time protocols to treating bleeding horses is to be very careful about the hay which is fed, guarding against moldy (fungi infested) hay! Maybe this should be a tip-off of sorts?

Top
OfflineProfileReply with quote
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post a new topic Post a reply  [ 1 post ] 
 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum
 
Search for:
Jump to:  
cron