Anti inflammatories

[seasidegirl]

Anyone taking these for any reason?

Saw a shocking documentary the other night. Well OH had it on so I assumed it was a nature programme. No idea what it was actually but it was about a serious problem in India that all the vultures were dying and causing a serious problem by being missing from the top of the food, especially waste removal, chain. Scientists examined the carcusses to try and find out what was going on but couldn't find any virus or other likely cause. Rates of vulture death were going up by 50% a year so they could soon be wiped out. Also they couldn't find any pollution that was the cause so they then checked bodies for medication. It turned out there were chemicals in the vultures that had killed them. They checked through all the medicine that local farmers were giving their cows and then tested the vultures for same. It turned out that what had killed the vultures was Diclofenac that the farmers had been giving their cows for joint pain and arthritis. They were using it to extend their useful lives by making them more able to withstand pain.

This shook me up a bit because I've been taking Diclofenac for 3 years. A medicine that I've been taking has the power to kill a huge bird that feeds on the remains of an animal that has been taking it? Wow. No thanks.

I've been trialling a natural medication and found it is really working - rose hip capsules! Last year I made my own rose hip syrup but although it was nice I dont think the RH content was high enough for the problem and also it contains a ton of sugar. Nice for a treat but I'm going to stick with the capsules. Cost is about £20 per month but recommend.

[seasidegirl]

http://www.birdlife.org/action/science/ ... fenac.html

[bill1953]

Meloxicam is now the preferred treatment for cattle as it's harmless to vultures. Makes you wonder what sort of farmer leaves dead cattle lying about though?

[seasidegirl]

Good point. Although I don't think it would take long for a vulture to find them.

[safronsue]

i'll be looking at what's in the stuff i take now and then for my jippy back. shocking!
i believe vultures do good service disposing of carcases, and corpses, in cultures where there are few other alternatives.