navicular Disease per George Eby

 http://galliumnitrate.com/


QUESTION: What nutritional deficit is likely to cause navicular disease?
ANSWER: Whoa! Such a loaded question! I don't know in specific cases. However, if we think about the main nutrients for bone formation (calcium, phosphate, magnesium, zinc, copper, protein), we can ask the question, "Which of these are promoted by horse feed manufacturers and which are not?" Think about that question for a moment and you are likely to realize that "magnesium" is rarely listed in horse feed-sack ingredients. If magnesium is listed, it is likely to be the cheapest source, magnesium oxide, of which little (about 3 to 4 percent) is absorbed and utilized. Sources of the other nutrients are not nearly as severely limiting. Consequently, magnesium is a VERY good candidate for study. High dietary magnesium is associated with hard tough bones and teeth. Unless horses are fed quite a bit of alfalfa (a bad idea for other reasons discussed below), most horses do not get enough magnesium in their diets. Worse, in horse feeds magnesium oxide is used. Unfortunately it is not bioavailable according to the three published reports below.
I do not think a gallium deficiency is the cause, since gallium is found only in tiny amounts in the soil. According to Dr. Larry Bernstein, there is clearly some gallium in common foods, so it is at least feasible for gallium to be a useful, if not essential, nutrient. The average gallium content of the earth's crust is about 17 parts per million (17 ppm). The mean value for soils is about the same, with a reported range of <4 to 70 ppm (Kabata-Pendias, A (2000) Trace Elements in Soils and Plants, Third Edition. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, pp 432 ). The amounts of gallium in soils are about 10 to 100 times higher than in foods, so gallium is clearly not concentrated by plants or animals. Here is a Russian report on the amount of gallium in foods, translated by Dr. Larry Bernstein.
I want to bring substantial emphasis to the likely issue of the uselessness of magnesium oxide being used in supplements and in horse feeds. Magnesium oxide appears totally useless because it too tightly bound together for the stomach acid to dissociate into a biologically useful ionic form according to the following articles. I assume this applies to horses too. This medical journal article abstract reported that "...magnesium oxide was no better than taking placebo...". This medical journal article reported "... poor bioavailability of magnesium oxide (fractional absorption 4 per cent)".... Another research reported "...The increment in urinary magnesium following magnesium citrate load (25 mMol) was significantly higher than that obtained from magnesium oxide load (during 4 hours post-load, 0.22 vs 0.006 mg/mg creatinine, p less than 0.05; during second 2 hours post-load, 0.035 vs 0.008 mg/mg creatinine, p less than 0.05). Thus, magnesium citrate was more soluble and bioavailable than magnesium oxide." This data can be interpreted to mean that magnesium oxide raised blood levels of magnesium only 1 / 37 that of magnesium citrate. Since essentially all of magnesium citrate is biologically available, and because 1/37 = 2.3%, magnesium oxide is about 2.3% biologically available from that article. Thus, these dirt cheap oxide forms of magnesium will not provide the nutritional support desired, but that is what your feed supplier is most likely to use.
Unfortunately, alfalfa is so high in protein that it causes behavior problems in some horses, especially thoroughbreds. There are two amino acids (glutamic acid and aspartic acid) that are necessary for growth of horses but also happen to be excitatory amino acids for their brains. Lots of alfalfa and clover seem fine (and necessary) for growing frisky ponies, but excess glutamic and/or aspartic acid in an adult horse undergoing training or involved in dressage work (particularly in the unfamiliar or alarming setting of competition) can have similar adverse effects on the horse's mind as giving too much mono-sodium-glutamate (MSG) or too much aspartame to people. It can mess up their brains and makes them hyperexcited, agitated, high or "hot".
In alfalfa (Lucerne), the content of aspartic acid was 19.20% and for glutamic acid was 9.37% (from Babinec et al.). Similarly these excitatory amino acids are also high in clover. Aspartate is converted to glutamate in the liver. Neither of these otherwise outstanding sources of amino acids should be used in horses (particularly thoroughbreds) undergoing dressage training or any training wherein the horse is expected to be extremely obedient and quiet. In human foods, MSG is used to improve flavor of foods, and a similar effect of glutamates seems to occur in horses, thus their love for alfalfa and clover. In fact, a small handful of alfalfa sprinkled over Bermuda grass or Timothy hay greatly increases the appeal of hay, but does not seem to promote hyperexcitability as long as the amount is no more than a few ounces of alfalfa.
Here is a humorous list of situations that NOT feeding high protein (high glutamate or aspartate) feeds might help. Magnesium and taurine, an amino acid, also help prevent glutamate excitotoxicity through regulation of calcium and mitochondrial energy metabolism, and may find utility in quieting horses toxic on glutamates (alfalfa and clover). This is a current research item of mine in equine nutrition. We have fed one to five heaping tablespoons of taurine daily, and find that it gentles one of our two wilder-than-desired thoroughbreds into a docile dressage horse. The other we deem too smart to put up with riders and we don't ride him (Don Dee), although in the spring and summer of 200, a wonderful young lady is riding him, since "He is the most elegant and outstanding horse I have ever seen or ridden" says she, even though Don Dee is 20 years old in 2008. Also, an Italian commercial preparation called RIBHORSE contains taurine and is used in the "recovery" of race horses by feeding it immediately before and after races. When routine feeding of several tablespoons of taurine per meal terminates excitotoxicity, such may mean one aspect of liver disease has been benefited. Importantly, taurine is the most common amino acid in the heart and it is so important that the liver makes it for us. There is insufficient taurine in both horse and human feeds to survive on dietary sources. For example, several years ago in 2005, Sharpe (Don Dee's brother) was not behaving well and he had a lethal liver test report. He was dying of liver failure according to our veterinarian. We gave taurine, lots of it, and his liver returned, and the latest reports showed no liver problems. Weird? True too! For vastly more information on taurine and its effects on the brain, see this 135 page report.
Long-term large feedings of alfalfa to horses are also are implicated in producing enteroliths (intestinal stones) weighing many pounds which always require major surgery to remove. These stones can also cause hyperexcitability, possibly by their irritating (bouncing) effects in the horse's intestines. These stones are made of magnesium ammonium phosphate and are believed to be caused by excess ammonia as result of breakdown of alfalfa reaching the intestines. Again, serious bone disease and laminitis can be caused by too much calcium and insufficient magnesium in diet. Grass tetany is caused by magnesium deficiency.
Consequently, I believe magnesium without the production of ammonia and without excessive phosphate is vital, particularly when there is other evidence of liver disease. I was really put off recently due to a certain Austin "homeopathic" veterinarian suggesting that "too much" magnesium (by implication the amount I recommend) would cause liver damage. Nothing could be further from the truth, and such comment only shows the total lack of knowledge of the people that we pay to take care of our horses. Look up "liver damage" or "hepatitis" and "magnesium" in the National Library of Medicine's PubMed on-line service. You won't find anything meaningful. While you are there look up "calcium" and "liver damage" or "hepatitis" and that data will blow your mind.
Alfalfa is also high in calcium, and is now implicated as the cause of most tying up incidents. The cure for tying up? Don't supplement with calcium and never feed significant amounts of alfalfa. These ideas are new, but absolutely sound.
Therefore, I do not feed high protein feeds (namely alfalfa or clover), but I do mix into our horses' feed about 16 grams of magnesium carbonate and some taurine (a heaping tablespoon each meal) as dietary supplements with their morning and evening meals. I strongly recommend magnesium supplementation in all horses, navicular diseased or not. I have used magnesium carbonate dietary supplement products for humans available at health food stores, grocery stores and pharmacies for easy measurement, but such is expensive. Bulk sales in buckets of powdered magnesium carbonate are available over the Internet Also, check your local telephone directory for availability of magnesium carbonate and taurine, under industrial, agriculture, pharmaceutical and nutritional chemicals. Also, see this google.com search for "magnesium carbonate" "supplier". See Magnesium in Horses for more information on the role of magnesium in equine mental and bone health.
We need to study the necessity for magnesium in bone development, and the effect of magnesium deficiency in bone calcium loss. You can search PubMed, the National Library of Medicine's collection of original medical and veterinary research for "magnesium deficiency" and "bone loss", "bone", "osteoporosis", "bone degeneration", "arthritis", "tieing up" "grass tetany" and other related search terms.
Low magnesium attrit the telomeres in our DNA causing aging. This is the most important reason we have to keep our magnesium levels high, since it slows aging in both horses and people. This was discovered recently by none other than world-famous geneticist Bruce Ames of Berkley. Here is what his Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences abstract says:
Magnesium inadequacy affects more than half of the U.S. population and is associated with increased risk for many age-related diseases, yet the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Altered cellular physiology has been demonstrated after acute exposure to severe magnesium deficiency, but few reports have addressed the consequences of long-term exposure to moderate magnesium deficiency in human cells. Therefore, IMR-90 human fibroblasts were continuously cultured in magnesium-deficient conditions to determine the long-term effects on the cells. These fibroblasts did not demonstrate differences in cellular viability or plating efficiency but did exhibit a decreased replicative lifespan in populations cultured in magnesium-deficient compared with standard media conditions, both at ambient (20% O2) and physiological (5% O2) oxygen tension. The growth rates for immortalized IMR-90 fibroblasts were not affected under the same conditions. IMR-90 fibroblast populations cultured in magnesium-deficient conditions had increased senescence-associated ß-galactosidase activity and increased p16INK4a and p21WAF1 protein expression compared with cultures from standard media conditions. Telomere attrition was also accelerated in cell populations from magnesium-deficient cultures. Thus, the long-term consequence of inadequate magnesium availability in human fibroblast cultures was accelerated cellular senescence, which may be a mechanism through which chronic magnesium inadequacy could promote or exacerbate age-related disease.
       If you don't know what "telomeres" are, I will tell you and give you a reference. Telomeres are the sacrificial ends of strands of DNA. They are lost a little bit each year and eventually we run out of them. At that time our DNA gets messed up and shortly later we get cancer and/or die of old age. If cells divided without telomeres, they would lose the end of their chromosomes, and the necessary information it contains. In 1972, James Watson named this phenomenon the "end replication problem." The telomere is a disposable buffer fro our DNA strands, which is consumed during cell division and is replenished by an enzyme, the telomerase reverse transcriptase. This mechanism usually limits cells to a fixed number of divisions, and animal studies suggest that this is responsible for aging on the cellular level and it directly affects lifespan. Telomeres also protect a cell's chromosomes from fusing with each other or rearranging. These chromosome abnormalities can lead to cancer, so cells are normally destroyed when telomeres are consumed. Most cancer is the result of cells bypassing this destruction. Biologists speculate that this mechanism is a trade-off between aging and cancer. Seems to me that there would be a big market for telomerase reverse transcriptase if it could be bottled or injected. We could call the product "DNA Bumpers".
Without going further into complex and multifaceted reasons for my opinion, the neglect of magnesium in horse feed appears grave. Magnesium deficiency probably causes more equine health problems than any other current equine nutritional deficit. Even nations are at risk from having imbalances in the calcium to magnesium ratio in the population's diet. The United States of America now has the worst record of heart disease in the Western world, mainly because physicians, nutritionists and dietitians, both private and government, insist on a high calcium to magnesium 3:1 ratio, when a 1:1 ratio or even a 1:2 ratio is desperately needed. For the most up to date information of magnesium and human health (applicable to horses too), read "The Magnesium Factor" by Mildred Seelig, MD, one of the world's foremost authorities on magnesium nutrition. Yes, horses have sudden death heart attacks from low magnesium - high calcium diets. If you don't mind getting your feet wet, you can start your study of magnesium and calcium imbalances here. In the following 1977 graphic from Dr. Seelig's year 2003 book, The Magnesium Factor", Finland revised its diet to include more magnesium and potassium and now has a lower incident of heart disease than Japan. Did the United States follow the lead of Finland toward the healthy heart? No. It would bankrupt many hospitals and physicians, and we are just fodder to them.
If the horse is nervous and does not have normal stools (formed droppings) and is considered "loose", the horse is likely deficient in probiotic intestinal bacteria such as acidophilus lactobacillus, or deficient in the amino acid taurine. Magnesium absorption and resultant behavior and bone protection is always severely and adversely impacted when loose stools occur. Taurine is necessary for bile production and metabolism of fats and has many other necessary roles that are only in the last few years becoming evident. Loose stools demand life and sanity saving dietary supplements of acidophilus lactobacillus. We have had outstanding results with a human-use product called VSL#3 in our horses. To retain strength it must remain refrigerated. It is a packet of 450 billion bacteria. This will terminate looseness in over 90% of horses or humans, and allow the horse to absorb minerals from the diet vastly better. Adding magnesium to horses' feed without adequate probiotics may be useless and may increase stool looseness. Use of antibiotics, calcium supplements, de-wormers, steroids and hormones will usually adversely affect these life giving bacteria, and large supplements of probiotics are mandatory to preserve and promote health. Always provide them after giving any of the above treatments. In humans, Kefir is vastly more potent than acidophilus lactobacillus in correcting major intestinal problems due to fungus (Candida Albicans), and I strongly suspect that feeding Kefir to horses would be extremely beneficial, although I have no direct experience and it would be expensive. Post script 2/4/05: At least Kefir did not kill my horses last night. I gave both of them a quart of Kefir on their grain. They made the most comical, distorted faces I have ever seen on a horse, as if they were asking what are you doing to me? And this stuff really tastes BAD! They did not like it, but they ate their feed, and licked the bucket clean! An even stronger and more effective probiotic is Complete Probiotic, but it would be really expensive to give to a horse.