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Horses + Complementary Medicine

  • An antioxidant is any substance that protects the body from free radical damage. There are natural antioxidants produced in the body to counter these free radicals, but antioxidant food supplements can also be administered to neutralize their damaging effects.

  • Herbal remedies made from the Echinacea plant are very popular and used to support the immune system. It is advisable to use a blend of Echinacea, containing E. purpurea herb and E. angustifolia root since the combination improves availability of the important active ingredients.

  • Eyebright (Euphrasia rostkoviana formerly officinalis) has been used for centuries for the treatment of conjunctivitis and mild eye irritation in people, hence the name. It has mild antimicrobial (antiseptic), anti-inflammatory and astringent (tightening) properties.

  • Also called linseed oil, flax seed oil is derived from the crushed seeds of the flax plant (Linium usitatissimum) and has been proposed as a more aesthetically pleasing alternative to fish oil supplements.

  • Glucosamine is an amino sugar that occurs naturally in the body and plays an important role in forming and maintaining the body's tissues such as nails, skin, ligaments, tendons, bones, heart valves, discharging mucous from the lining of the digestive tract, urinary tract and respiratory tract.

  • Magnetic therapy, more accurately termed magnetic field therapy, is the use of magnetic fields. Fields are generated by either permanent magnets or pulsed electromagnetic fields, for treatment of medical conditions.

  • Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a complete system of medicine developed to prevent and treat disease. Its roots are in writings and practices which were developed over millennia.

  • Acupuncture is one of the oldest treatment methods in the world. It is also probably the most widely recognised form of so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) which also includes homeopathy and herbal medicine.

  • The term acupuncture is from the Latin, acus meaning 'needle' and punctura meaning 'to puncture'. Acupuncture, in its simplest sense, is the treatment of conditions or symptoms by the insertion of very fine needles into specific points on the body in order to produce a response.

  • The term chiropractic comes from the Greek words cheir which means 'hand' and praxis which means 'practice' or 'done by', and refers to the practice of manipulating the spine to treat disease.