Those of you who know us and particularly our clinic will know that we have an ongoing interest in natural medicine and particularly the interface between modern medicine, surgery and the world of complementary medicine and all that that entails.
Which means that I keep a pretty close eye on new products that appear on the market where they contain ‘interesting’ ingredients.
How about Seraquin? Glucosamine and Chondroitin we know very well, but the secret extra ingredient is TURMERIC, better known to most of us as a key ingredient of curries.
I remember seeing local healers giving raw egg and turmeric massages in the rural markets of Morocco many years ago and it turns out that it has been around in the Middle and Far East as a remedy for muscular and joint pains for hundreds if not thousand of years.
There was another product containing Turmeric called Xanthofen launched a few years back, but it fell flat on its face. Whereas Seraquin is now top of the pile for joint supplements for pets, and they’ve just launched Seraquin GLME? for horses… GLME? I hear you ask – thats Green Lipped Mussel Extract.
And now here’s another Morocco link. Much of my work there was dealing with the desperate conditions of the working animals – getting on for a million working donkeys, 600,000 mules and 250,00 horses, who laboured under the most apalling conditions. Deep infected wounds from ill-fitting saddles and harnesses were common and difficult for us to treat. Antibiotics were often needed, but some of the really nasty deep infected pus-discharging wounds needed more desperate measures…
Honey.
We did as the ancient Eqyptians did, and used honey. Glooped into the wound and held in place with a dressing, it killed the bacteria, helped break up the dead and dying tissue, cleared the smell and provided a great environment for the new healing tissue. It worked a treat.
And what do I see on my desk this morning?
New product! Activon Medical Grade Manuka Honey (UMF+12).
The old ones are the best.
And that’s not just me we’re talking about…