I live in Canada, in a province called Alberta. Anyone who looks at a map knows that Canada is a rather large country and in fact Alberta is only a little smaller than Texas, but instead of the thirty-something million inhabitants that are in Texas, Alberta contains just over three million souls. In other words, we have lots and lots of space here, and in that space there is a lot of farming and a great deal of livestock. In fact, there are nearly 5.5 million cattle in Alberta, outnumbering humans by a significant margin, but cattle are certainly not the only livestock raised in Alberta.

Elk Antler Velvet:  Another alt med fad.

In recent years there are an increasing number of farmers in Alberta that are breeding and raising Elk, and for something I never would have guessed – the antler velvet that male Elk produce each year when their antlers grow. The desire to harvest and use Elk antler velvet stems from; you guessed it, Chinese medicine. According to Wikipedia, Elk antler velvet is second only to ginseng in importance to Chinese medicine practitioners.  An acquaintance of mine who raises elk recently told me that almost all of his elk antler velvet goes to the Korean alternative medicine market.

Recently I’ve noticed a number of signs on the highway stating “Elk Antler Velvet For Sale!” and with this mini-boom in elk antler velvet awareness, comes the kind of rumor and talk about the ‘miracle’ cure aspect of elk antler velvet. It’s mostly touted as a treatment for various kinds of arthritis, but as is common with so many such treatments, it has become a panacea for all kinds of ailments from male impotency to a cure for kidney troubles in dogs.

A quick scan of Pub Med reveals a University of Alberta study on the effects of elk antler velvet on rheumatoid arthritis sufferers in 2008, which states “Although some patients reported clinical improvements in their symptoms, there were no statistically significant differences between groups. Overall, elk velvet antler does not effectively manage residual symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.” Another study from 2004 from the University of Saskatchewan showed that wound healing in diabetic rats was improved with topical treatment with elk antler velvet (a water-soluble extract of it). Still, these are preliminary studies and as with many alternative medicines, the results are spotty.

Elk antler velvet could have some value, but the reasons for it being used in the first place was because elk are viewed as virile, strong animals and folks thought that if they ingested the male’s velvet it would impart some of the animal’s strength and, well, virility in them. We need to be cautious with this sort of thing to ensure that we are not harming the animals and not putting anyone at risk. There is some evidence that Chronic Wasting Disease, a prion-based disease similar to mad cow disease can be passed through infected antlers. That alone is reason to be wary of such new ‘therapies’.

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