This article is a summary of the product Gastro Care’s second clinical study, conducted in conjunction with the Pferdeklinik München-Parsdorf, Germany in 2003.
Introduction
Since the 1980s, vets have discovered that many horses suffer from gastric ulcers thanks to the development of gastric endoscopy in horses. The nature of clinical symptoms in a horse suffering from ulcers can be very variable and sometime subtle, ranging from changes in attitude to clear colic. Gastric ulcers can have a detrimental impact on the performances of sport horses, owing to the pain they are likely to trigger during work. The horses in this study demonstrated many of these expected symptoms with all owners reporting poor performance. This study investigated the effect of a combination food supplement containing antacids, glutamine and soluble fibres to treat mild to moderate gastric ulcers in horses.
Gastric Ulcers: How and Why
Horses have a small stomach and, when in their natural environment, spend their time eating grass that transits rapidly through the stomach. The equine stomach produces acid continuously and without food to digest, the acid can irritate or attack the walls of the stomach, eventually resulting in the occurrence of ulcers. Stress can be a major promoting factor as it interferes with physiological mechanisms of mucosal protection and acid regulation. Physical activity brings the most acid sensitive portion of the stomach’s mucosa into prolonged contact with the gastric acid content. Several studies have shown that the incidence of ulcers is proportional to the level of work. As a result, stabled competition horses are more at risk developing gastric ulcers.
Gastric Ulcer Management
In horses, gastric ulcers seldom heal spontaneously and to initiate a healing process, the horse’s living and working conditions have to be completely reassessed. If possible, a prolonged stay out at pasture can allow an ulcer-affected horse to fully recover, as well as reducing its workload. Also dividing the horse’s daily ration into smaller, more frequent meals and to ensure permanent availability of forages can assist with recovery. Medical treatment in the form of omeprazole (pharmaceutical product) is also available. This option is not always the most effective form of gastric ulcer management owing to:
- long-term cost of using the product
- the fact that they cannot avoid the recurrence of ulcers
- substance restriction/regulation in competition use
Therefore, a more practical approach for long term prevention and management is to use a combination product which will reduce the acidity of the stomach (by increasing the pH), promote local healing of the ulceration and increase the fibre intake daily.
Gastric Ulcer Study
NutriScience has developed a product, Gastro Care, to manage mild to moderate gastric ulceration. Gastro Care works in three ways:
- to act as a buffer for the acid
- to provide glutamine to increase local healing
- to supply lecithin and pectin soluble fibres to adsorb excess acid
This study evaluated Gastro Care as the sole intervention in the treatment of gastric ulcers in performance horses.
In this study, 6 horses were included and had a gastric ulceration score of 2 or higher and had not received anti-ulcer medication for at least 28 days prior to the start of the study. At the beginning of the study, 4 out of the 6 horses had intermittent and all 6 horses had reported poor performance. All horses were client owned with no change made to their daily routine or nutrition, other than the addition of Gastro Care. No additional ulcer medication was administered to the horses in the study. The study followed the below schedule:
- Day 0 – Examination and Endoscopy followed by 30 days of treatment with Gastro Care
- Day 30 – Examination and Endoscopy
An Evaluation Sheet was completed for each horse at the beginning and at the second endoscopic examination as well as a brief summary of the clinical changes.
Gastric Ulcer Study Results
5 out of the 6 horses showed significant improvement with the average ulcer score improving by 2 or more grades. The 5 with a positive response, after only 30 days on treatment went from moderate ulceration to mild or no evidence of ulceration. In addition to significant improvement via scope the owner feedback was that all horses improved in performance and attitude with no further reported colic symptoms.
Conclusion
To conclude, this study demonstrated the efficiency of a combination supplement with an antacid, glutamine and soluble fibres in the improvement, and in some cases the complete healing, of moderate gastric ulcer lesions. The study samples were all horses in training, which are particularly at risk of gastric ulceration. Therefore, this study confirmed that the equine nutritional supplement, Gastro Care, can be used in the management of stomach ulcers in horses, both for preventing their occurrence as well as for avoiding their recurrence. Due to the composition of these supplements they can be given without risk up to the day of the competition.
