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  Discussion on Silica for tendon/ligaments?
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New Member:
savvyjes

Posted on Sunday, Mar 18, 2007 - 1:49 pm:

I have seen some new supplements for "connective tissue support & tendon and ligament injuries" from Smartpak. One is also for joint support with glucosamine, chonDrOitin, HA, MSM, Vitamin C, gelatin, and orthosilic acid. The other has orthosilic acid, MSM, grape seed extract, gelatin, and Vitamin C. Is there any proof of efficacy of these products? I am usually quite skeptical of supplements claims, but now I am a training a horse with some problems and the descriptions of these products is telling me what my heart wants to hear. Thank goodness my head is in charge of research. The horse is a 3yr old TB in early race training. He is a large horse who is tied in at the knee, and experiences suspensory and tendon inflammation. It's not painful as far as we can tell by palpation, and he travels very well. When he first came in, he was also obese and his thyroid function was minimal to none. We have carefully managed his diet and exercise, and have had him on ThyroL for 2 weeks. We are aware that the chances of him having a racing career are somewhat dubious, but he's very talented, and we'd like to give him the best shot we can. Any advice beyond what you know about these supplements would also be appreciated.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Mar 19, 2007 - 7:00 am:

Keep your head in charge jesse, there is little support for any of these when added to a good diet. Both of these are primarily silica supplements with other stuff thrown in to confuse the issue as near as I can tell. I have attended some nutritional conferences where there are vague references to silica but I can find no work supporting it's use to help strengthen the ligament or tendons of horses.

Silica is found in connective tissue. In human diets this has gotten some attention because processing greatly reduces the silica content of foodstuffs as it is often found in the fibrous portion of the feed. Even when greatly reduced its role in connective tissue diseases is stiill uncertain. For horses this would not be a problem.

Have they determined whether the horses knees are tied in because of a shortened carpal flexor or SDF tendon? Which tendons are inflammed?
DrO
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