Regenerative medicine for horses
Regenerative medicine has the potential to change the face of medicine. It stretches from repopulating skin, to regrowing whole organs. A new heart could be grown from your own stem cells, or muscles could be repopulated countering sarcopenia. It is difficult to understate the importance of this technology.
It may seem odd that horses get better health care than humans, but the main culprit in this is that there is not the same regulatory burden on animal trials as there is on human trials. The intentions of the regulation is not have anyone die by a treatment, however what seems not to be taken into the equation is all the people which will be saved in the future, and also how their quality of life may be improved. I would argue that it is better to have 9 years of life at full fitness than 12 years of disability.
Back in 2005 the fightaging.org blog noted that in 2002, horses have enjoyed the benefits of early stem cell therapies.
In the new treatment, a damaged tendon is rapidly “repopulated” by flexible new tendon tissue, rather than leathery scar tissue that naturally forms over a period of up to 18 months. About 70 per cent of treated horses have returned to racing form – more than double the percentage that would be expected had they received conventional treatment.
You read that correctly from 2002 this treatment is already being used.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment