Treatment For Human Inflammation Shows Promise In Horses
Capacitive and resistive electric transfer (CRET) is a treatment that has been used on humans to reduce pain and improve quality of life in those who have orthopedic degenerative and inflammatory issues. Applied externally, the treatment uses long-wave radiofrequency energy to warm the tissues.
This treatment was recently used in a study that focused on horses being exercised on a treadmill. Researchers Drs. Ana Muñoz, Mireya Becero, Aritz Saitua, Cristina Castejón-Riber, Cristina Riber, Antonia Lucía Sánchez de Medina and David Argüelles used nine sound horses and exercised them at a walk and trot on a treadmill. They studied the accelerometric patterns of each horse at each gait and also sought to determine if there was an accumulative effect of CRET sessions when used on consecutive days.
The team believed that the use of CRET would change the total power and show a redistribution of power along three body axes, which would affect the horse’s stride. The researchers evaluated each horse on a treadmill at the walk and trot, then CRET was applied to the left and ride sides of the neck, shoulder, croup and back. The horses were put back on treadmill two, six, and 12 hours after application.
The next day, each horse received another CRET session and was evaluated at the same interval. The scientists reported no negative effects of the CRET treatments; the horses relaxed while being treated, some lowering their heads and hanging their lower lips.
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The scientists determined that stride regularity and length increased with the treatment and that the horses exhibited more total power; their stride frequency decreased. The changes were attributed to the warming of the muscles CRET produces.
Read the study here.
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