Racing News
New Treatment for Pain of Lam-"Mint"-Itis?
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in Scotland are turning to ancient medical traditions to help horses deals with the pain of laminitis.
Professor Sue Fleetwood-Walker, with researcher Rory Mitchell, is taking a clear, scientific look into Chinese and Greek traditions using mint to treat pain, in hopes that mint therapy might be key to the nerve-damage pain that is part of the complex response that horses have to the damage in their feet when laminitis strikes.
Previous research by Fleetwood-Walker, also conducted at Edinburgh and published in the journal Pain, chronicled evidence for a neuropathic component to the chronic pain state associated with equine laminitis, indicating that anti-neuropathic analgesic treatment may well have a role in the management of laminitic horses. In that study, electron micrographic analysis of the digital nerve of laminitic horses showed "peripheral nerve morphology to be abnormal, as well as having reduced numbers of unmyelinated (43.2%) and myelinated fibers (34.6%) compared to normal horses", according to the study's abstract.
Fleetwood-Walker has researched "phantom" pain in human amputation patients and also horn pain response in small mammals; her team discovered that cooling chemicals with the same properties as mint oil had powerful painkilling effects when applied in small doses to the skin. Menthol-derived compounds stimulating activity of a receptor involved in the sensation of cold can trigger the relief of chronic and neuropathic pain.
The receptor molecule TRPM8 is responsible for the sensation of moderate cold and it has long been known that cooling eases pain. However, the Edinburgh researchers have shown that this receptor acts to induce a pathway of responses that ease the crippling effects of neuropathic chronic pain which is very different from the acute pain associated with direct trauma. Substances such as icilin or menthol, known activators of TRPM8 which mimics the sensation of cooling, may then be used to treat neuropathic chronic pain.
The compounds were likely to have minimal toxic side effects, being applied externally, and were likely to prove ideal for patients with chronic pain who found conventional painkillers ineffective. The next test is to find a way to test mint medications on horses with laminitis.
This research is funded by The Horse Trust, a leading British horse charity.
Professor Sue Fleetwood-Walker, with researcher Rory Mitchell, is taking a clear, scientific look into Chinese and Greek traditions using mint to treat pain, in hopes that mint therapy might be key to the nerve-damage pain that is part of the complex response that horses have to the damage in their feet when laminitis strikes.
Previous research by Fleetwood-Walker, also conducted at Edinburgh and published in the journal Pain, chronicled evidence for a neuropathic component to the chronic pain state associated with equine laminitis, indicating that anti-neuropathic analgesic treatment may well have a role in the management of laminitic horses. In that study, electron micrographic analysis of the digital nerve of laminitic horses showed "peripheral nerve morphology to be abnormal, as well as having reduced numbers of unmyelinated (43.2%) and myelinated fibers (34.6%) compared to normal horses", according to the study's abstract.
Fleetwood-Walker has researched "phantom" pain in human amputation patients and also horn pain response in small mammals; her team discovered that cooling chemicals with the same properties as mint oil had powerful painkilling effects when applied in small doses to the skin. Menthol-derived compounds stimulating activity of a receptor involved in the sensation of cold can trigger the relief of chronic and neuropathic pain.
The receptor molecule TRPM8 is responsible for the sensation of moderate cold and it has long been known that cooling eases pain. However, the Edinburgh researchers have shown that this receptor acts to induce a pathway of responses that ease the crippling effects of neuropathic chronic pain which is very different from the acute pain associated with direct trauma. Substances such as icilin or menthol, known activators of TRPM8 which mimics the sensation of cooling, may then be used to treat neuropathic chronic pain.
The compounds were likely to have minimal toxic side effects, being applied externally, and were likely to prove ideal for patients with chronic pain who found conventional painkillers ineffective. The next test is to find a way to test mint medications on horses with laminitis.
This research is funded by The Horse Trust, a leading British horse charity.
Monday Night Notes
- With barely 48 hours remaining to broker an agreement that will keep New York racing going, NYRA is preparing to shut down Aqueduct when the franchise expires on Wednesday. Horsemen and employees were alerted last week to plans for closing the track and Belmont's training facility; NYRA Rewards account-holders...
$16M Dud Heads to Stud
With a record of 3-0-0-1 and earnings of $10,240, The Green Monkey has been retired to stand stud at Hartley-De Renzo Thoroughbreds of Florida in 2009. The farm plans to build the 4-year-old Forestry colt his own barn and are considering offering tours to visitors interested in seeing the priciest...
To Make it Easier to Find Later…
Now that I have the whole “bandwagon” clarification out of the way, time to get back on it for one hot second.
Since there's plenty of, dare I say, hype about Pyro, I wanted to compile it to make it easier to find later.
Race Replay (check):
DRF Recap (check)
Papa Beyer sagely reminds us not to discount War [...]
I Know It's Early, but I'm Not Ashamed!
A spate of posts, comments and Facebook wall post conversations about Pyro, “bandwagons” and the time of year have brought up some interesting things (for me at least).
It started this morning with some comments I received on my Pyro = Real Deal post. The post itself was rather vague and had only 2 sentences:
I think [...]
This I Believe
For the last couple of years, NPR has been running a series called “This I Believe,” in which listeners submit and read essays about their beliefs and values. I generally turn to sports radio when these segments come on; I am not much given to proclaiming my own beliefs, nor terribly inclined to listen to others doing so. Sitting at my desk this afternoon, grading quizzes, I heard the familiar
On Further Thought...
- The Times Union reported this morning that the state had dropped its demand for supermajority votes on the NYRA board. But, in his statement today, Steve Duncker said that "the newly proposed structure would politicize the Board and endanger the very reforms that have been accomplished to date." So it sounds like the structure of the board is still an issue.
The idea of preventing Albany politicians from having control of NYRA's board is certainly a worthy goal, as has been so aptly demonstrated during this years-long mess. But it's worth noting that, based on the press reports of what was being proposed by the state, three of the ten board appointees to be selected by the Governor, Assembly, and Senate would be appointed by Spitzer based on "recommendations from horsemen, breeders, and labor." Now I'm not sure what they mean by "labor;" and I'd hope that "horsemen and breeders" doesn't mean Joe Bruno. But I'm presuming that these three picks are supposed to represent the interests of the industry.
A 'supermajority' often means 2/3rds, so the state was probably proposing that 14 votes of the 21 member board would be required to pass a measure. Since NYRA would have 11 appointees, it would need three additional votes to push through a proposal. So, in matters of NYRA-sponsored proposals on which it and the political appointees were voting in blocs in opposition, the appointees recommended by horsemen, breeders, and labor would be, in effect, a swing vote. Depending on exactly what is meant by 'labor,' that might not be such a bad thing. After all, if you assume that NYRA is pushing proposals beneficial and constructive to the industry, and that the three recommended appointees are sympathetic to the cause, then what would be the problem? And it would, in theory of course, give the horsemen some real leverage on the board on matters that are more controversial.
A couple of readers suggested that when Duncker referred to the "the broken business model of thoroughbred racing in New York," he wasn't referring to OTB. Perhaps not, though I think that I often see "broken business model" used to describe that particular situation. Of course there's no way that the legislature is going to consolidate OTB in the next two days, and Duncker well knows that. So perhaps it is just some clever PR. But, on the other hand, maybe it's instead a plea demand to take the matter more seriously. A committee is going to study the issue and get back to us in May 2009?? Please! That's the political equivalent of "we'll be in touch." I could easily now get into the usual rant about this unique opportunity for change going by the boards...but I suspect they'll be plenty more opportunities for that.
Jeff Gural shut down Vernon Downs' racino on Monday, the first one in the state (the country?) to close due to financial losses. Amazing, isn't it? He says he'll shut Tioga Downs next month if a bill giving the tracks higher percentages of VLT revenue doesn't pass. The Press and Sun Bulletin of Binghamton, NY has a report that the harness tracks are trying to get a new revenue sharing deal included in the NYRA negotiations. And indeed, ccording to this report, Joe Bruno and Sheldon Silver are fully involved. "It's an active negotiation that is taking place right now simultaneously with the NYRA deal," Silver said. "Whether it's part of the NYRA deal, not part of the NYRA deal, is irrelevant. It's obviously something we need to deal with in a timely fashion." [Pressconnects.com] Representative Gary Pretlow, who sponsored the bill that was shot down in committee, opposes going any further than what was proposed. "We're spending too much that should go to education rather than to prop up these racetracks," he said. Pretlow sounds like he did months ago. before he decided to sponsor the ill-fated bill.
The idea of preventing Albany politicians from having control of NYRA's board is certainly a worthy goal, as has been so aptly demonstrated during this years-long mess. But it's worth noting that, based on the press reports of what was being proposed by the state, three of the ten board appointees to be selected by the Governor, Assembly, and Senate would be appointed by Spitzer based on "recommendations from horsemen, breeders, and labor." Now I'm not sure what they mean by "labor;" and I'd hope that "horsemen and breeders" doesn't mean Joe Bruno. But I'm presuming that these three picks are supposed to represent the interests of the industry.
A 'supermajority' often means 2/3rds, so the state was probably proposing that 14 votes of the 21 member board would be required to pass a measure. Since NYRA would have 11 appointees, it would need three additional votes to push through a proposal. So, in matters of NYRA-sponsored proposals on which it and the political appointees were voting in blocs in opposition, the appointees recommended by horsemen, breeders, and labor would be, in effect, a swing vote. Depending on exactly what is meant by 'labor,' that might not be such a bad thing. After all, if you assume that NYRA is pushing proposals beneficial and constructive to the industry, and that the three recommended appointees are sympathetic to the cause, then what would be the problem? And it would, in theory of course, give the horsemen some real leverage on the board on matters that are more controversial.
A couple of readers suggested that when Duncker referred to the "the broken business model of thoroughbred racing in New York," he wasn't referring to OTB. Perhaps not, though I think that I often see "broken business model" used to describe that particular situation. Of course there's no way that the legislature is going to consolidate OTB in the next two days, and Duncker well knows that. So perhaps it is just some clever PR. But, on the other hand, maybe it's instead a plea demand to take the matter more seriously. A committee is going to study the issue and get back to us in May 2009?? Please! That's the political equivalent of "we'll be in touch." I could easily now get into the usual rant about this unique opportunity for change going by the boards...but I suspect they'll be plenty more opportunities for that.
Jeff Gural shut down Vernon Downs' racino on Monday, the first one in the state (the country?) to close due to financial losses. Amazing, isn't it? He says he'll shut Tioga Downs next month if a bill giving the tracks higher percentages of VLT revenue doesn't pass. The Press and Sun Bulletin of Binghamton, NY has a report that the harness tracks are trying to get a new revenue sharing deal included in the NYRA negotiations. And indeed, ccording to this report, Joe Bruno and Sheldon Silver are fully involved. "It's an active negotiation that is taking place right now simultaneously with the NYRA deal," Silver said. "Whether it's part of the NYRA deal, not part of the NYRA deal, is irrelevant. It's obviously something we need to deal with in a timely fashion." [Pressconnects.com] Representative Gary Pretlow, who sponsored the bill that was shot down in committee, opposes going any further than what was proposed. "We're spending too much that should go to education rather than to prop up these racetracks," he said. Pretlow sounds like he did months ago. before he decided to sponsor the ill-fated bill.
Noble NYRA leading the way to Albany
The citizens have had enough of the corruption within New York State government. It was about time that somebody or something did something. Spitzer was touted as a vessel of change but like Obama today those are clearly empty promises that are only believed by media consuming drones. NYRA is a true vessel of change and will march on Albany to demand change. Could you believe as a racing fan that of all the people, officials, companies and organizations within the state it took NYRA to lead the charge on Albany to end the corruption?
After being a victim of its own poorly arranged business model and a victim of its own institutional indolence NYRA has emerged as a powerhouse of change within the state. Refusing to yield to the ineptitude of Spitzer/Silver who do not value or understand racing. Refusing the submit to the corruption of Bruno who treats racing as yet another franchise of his Sons lobbying business. NYRA has held its ground and is ready to force real change into the racing laws of New York.
NYRA has the fortitude to forgo short-term profits for the long term health of the industry in New York. NYRA is taking the lead in many issues such as the broken model where all profits are rolled in the Albany corruption machine. NYRA is also taking a stand on the OTB and the parasitic relationship with racing where massive amounts of management is needed for six separate OTB regional organizations. NYRA is ensuring that the long delayed slots have a fair revenue sharing agreement in place.
Thank you NYRA for providing the best entertainment in New York state and thank you for standing up to the corrupt regime that we live under. We as racing fans are looking forward to even better racing once NYRA cleans house in Albany.
After being a victim of its own poorly arranged business model and a victim of its own institutional indolence NYRA has emerged as a powerhouse of change within the state. Refusing to yield to the ineptitude of Spitzer/Silver who do not value or understand racing. Refusing the submit to the corruption of Bruno who treats racing as yet another franchise of his Sons lobbying business. NYRA has held its ground and is ready to force real change into the racing laws of New York.
NYRA has the fortitude to forgo short-term profits for the long term health of the industry in New York. NYRA is taking the lead in many issues such as the broken model where all profits are rolled in the Albany corruption machine. NYRA is also taking a stand on the OTB and the parasitic relationship with racing where massive amounts of management is needed for six separate OTB regional organizations. NYRA is ensuring that the long delayed slots have a fair revenue sharing agreement in place.
Thank you NYRA for providing the best entertainment in New York state and thank you for standing up to the corrupt regime that we live under. We as racing fans are looking forward to even better racing once NYRA cleans house in Albany.
© 2008