Horses & Humans
Injury research brings together horses and athletes
Febraury 26, 2009
Horses and humans are at the forefront of research exploring the benefits of platelet-rich plasma therapy, writes Ellen Harvey. However, many questions remain, including whether it might ultimately prove better than stem cell therapy.
A bowed tendon specimen (centre) with a core lesion (red circle) compared to the normal tendon (above) from the opposite leg.
What does a top American football player have in common with a racehorse? The answer is becoming clear in research being conducted with performance horses at Cornell University.
When Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward suited up for this year’s Super Bowl after spraining his kneee just two weeks earlier, he may have had a horse to thank for a faster than expected recovery.
Ward was the recipient of platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP), in which a small amount of blood from an injured person or horse is extracted and placed in a filtration system to separate red blood cells from platelets. A teaspoon or two of the product is injected at the site of an injury to boost healing…
