Almost all trainers will have experienced a problem with individual horses, groups of horses, or sometimes even a whole yard where performance drops off for no immediately apparent reason. In human medicine we talk about chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) which can affect both athletes and non-athletes, but in athletes we may be more likely to talk about overtraining.

In people, chronic fatigue syndrome is well recognised but often poorly understood. It typically affects young to middle aged adults with women being more commonly affected than men. It is estimated that somewhere between 150,000-250,000 people in the UK alone are affected by CFS. CFS is also referred to as simply chronic fatigue, post-viral fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalomyeltis (ME). The latter term describes muscle pain and central nervous system inflammation but that is not always apparent in chronic fatigue patients and so the term CFS has become more commonly used.

Dr David Marlin (European Trainer - issue 32 - Winter 2010)

European Trainer Article Index

Roaring - new thoughts on thoroughbred throats

Fast recovery - three tips to get your horse back to racing with Structural Integration

Standing fracture repair - an important step forward in fracture repair

Laminitis and cryotherapy - how cold will you go?

Adaptogens - the role in preventing gastric ulcers

World rules - with increasingly sensitive drug testing, we need a worldwide standard on when and with what to treat racehorses

John McVeigh: in search of a global set of medication rules

Foal Surgeries - are they really needed?

Thermography

The biomechanics of suspension

Fit and not fat - Is body condition important to racing performance?

Using the magic of stem cells to treat equine injuries

EMLD - benefits of EMLD therapy

All in the genes - can a racehorses potential be found through genetic testing?

Equine Herpes Virus

Piroplasmosis - its impact on horseracing around the world

Nasal Strips – what is stopping them being used in European racing?

Overtraining the racehorse

Should medication-free horses be given preferential treatment?

The Big 'C'

Trainer Magazine