Dr. Daniel Mendes Netto

Abstract

Sleep is very important for all mammals and characterizes a period in which biological restoration of daily imbalances occurs, bringing immunological and cognitive benefits. There are no studies relating the use of acupuncture to changes in the quality and quantity of sleep in horses. The objective of this research was to evaluate the possible effects that manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture together would have on the sleep pattern of horses. Seven healthy adult horses, aged between five and fifteen years, stabled, were subjected to an observational study of nocturnal sleep for six consecutive weeks, through filming and subsequent analysis of the recordings. For this study, the following division of each sleep phase of the horses was outlined: phase 1 - standing and awake; phase 2 - standing, napping - Non-REM sleep; phase 3 - in sternal recumbency, alert and head up; phase 4 - in sternal recumbency and napping, with head resting on the ground; phase 5 - lateral recumbency, sleeping - suggestive of the REM phase of equine sleep. In this experimental model, the first week was used to establish the sleep pattern of each horse, followed by the second, third and fourth weeks, a period of acupuncture treatment; and, finally, the fifth and sixth weeks, when acupuncture treatments were stopped on the horses (washout). All seven horses in this experiment had individual changes in their respective sleep profiles, some more intense than others, in terms of time spent standing up, resting or sleeping, time in lateral recumbency, total time sleeping and time awake as a result of the acupuncture treatment they received. There were group changes, with an increase in the time in sternal recumbency while sleeping and in lateral recumbency while sleeping, and these changes ceased to exist during the washout period. It can therefore be concluded that acupuncture interfered, in general, in the nocturnal sleep pattern of stabled adult horses, although there are individual variations.

Biography

Dr. Daniel Mendes Netto is a veterinarian, researcher, educator, and internationally recognized specialist in veterinary acupuncture and integrative veterinary medicine. He earned his Veterinary Medicine degree from FMVZ-UNESP, Brazil, and completed his residency, Master's degree in Veterinary Internal Medicine, and PhD in Internal Medicine with a focus on Equine Acupuncture and Sleep at FMVZ-USP. Since 2004, he has served as Technical-Scientific Director and Professor at the Sociedade de Acupuntura Veterinária do Equilíbrio e Bioenergética (SAVE). Certified by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS, USA) since 2014, he has also completed advanced training in Bioenergetic Acupuncture in Spain and specialised acupuncture programmes in China. Prof. Netto is the author of chapters in the textbooks Veterinary Semiology: The Art of Diagnosis and Animal Rehabilitation. His work focuses on equine medicine, veterinary acupuncture, bioenergetics, animal rehabilitation, and advancing evidence-based integrative veterinary healthcare through education, research, and clinical practice.