Tom Schell

Lyme Disease In Horses

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Lyme disease is unfortunately a common condition affecting not only horses and pets, but also a major health problem for people.  The disease is actually associated with a type of bacteria or spirochete, Borrellia burgdorferi, which is transmitted by either the deer tick, the blacklegged tick or the sheep tick, when feeding on the host.  The ticks are very small in size and often go undetected, but rates of infection can often times be very high dependent on geography with the northeast United States being the highest region.  The highest rates of infection generally occur from May to July due to the ticks being more active during this time. The rates of infection actually correlate with deer populations as the white tailed deer are the host for the adult stages of the tick.

 

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Cancer Prevention & Health

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It seems that for the past several years, you can’t turn on the TV or even talk to a small group of friends without the mention of the word “CANCER”.  Either there is someone close that you know with cancer or they are making new discoveries regarding the pathology and process of the disease.  It is everywhere, it seems, but there are several noteworthy things one can do to prevent or lower the risk of disease.

The whole goal of the field of medicine should be aimed at disease prevention, but unfortunately, most of the time is dedicated to disease management.  I feel at times, even as a veterinarian, that if we spent more time with younger patients focusing on good life habits, we would reduce the incidence of disease.  This is not done for several reasons, time being one of them, but also we have to keep in mind that profits are not as good for disease prevention as they are for disease management.  Cancer is a huge, profit driven force that often times does not take the best interest of the patients into consideration.  This is true whether if we are talking about people or animals.

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Impact of Exercise on Health

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Looking to enhance performane and recovery, while reducing the incidence of injury?  It is possible, but one has to understand what processes are at work and how to intervene. Exercise is something that we are all told to increase in our daily lives, but unfortunately, many equate this to a 45 minute, hard core workout performed in a gym on a daily basis.  Although this is true, it is not true in all situations.  Exercise can be walking, working in the yard, working in the barn, doing house chores…the list goes on.  In terms of horses, exercise can be a long turn out with running in the pasture, routine daily training as well as a hard run at a jumper course.  It is good for us and them, as it improves cellular function and oxygen metabolism, but also helps to strengthen muscle, improve circulation, burn calories and just improve overall health. But there is a bad side…

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Conditions

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