Tag: botox

Excuses

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News from the Isle of Man of a 68-year-old Ramsey woman in court over a potential drink driving related offence. Let’s get up to speed with the preamble and then we can move onto the good bits:

Her grey Mitsubishi Colt was spotted heading along North Shore Road, Bowring Road, Station Road and on Shoprite car park at around 4.30pm. Its progress was described as ‘erratic’ and ‘all over the road’. When she tried to park, she ended up only half in a disabled space with the back end of her car sticking out. Inside the shop, she was visibly unsteady on her feet and her speech was slurred. Police found her sitting in the driver’s seat of her car.

It’s not looking good for Anna Fratanu (for it are she wot was in charge of the vehicle) thus far. But she said that she hadn’t been drinking, so what on earth could have been causing her erratic driving then?

  1. She blamed a fault with her car’s clutch which meant stopping and starting was difficult.
  2. She was taking medication for vertigo.
  3. She was not wearing her glasses, and
  4. She said her driving was no different from usual.

The coppers were having none of it though, and asked for a breath test.
But ‘soz, no can do’ says Anna, because:

  1. She had no time to spare as she was preparing a picnic, and
  2. She claimed the recent Botox treatment meant she could not purse her lips.

Sadly for Anna, Magistrates’ chairman Julian Ashcroft was unimpressed by her numerous sob stories. He fined her £1000 and ordered her to pay £300 costs. She was also banned from driving for five years and must pass an extended driving test at the end of the ban. She must also attend a drink drivers’ alcohol rehabilitation course before being allowed to drive again.

EGS

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It’s May, and we all know what happens in May. EGS happens in May.

Incoming via Polo Times:

Grass Sickness cases show a spike in May.
Polo ponies that are kept out at grass could be affected this spring by Equine Grass Sickness.

Yep. EGS = Equine Grass Sickness: a sickness of equines that is caused by guess what?

The main risk factor for grass sickness, as the name may suggest, is grass.

Thanks wikipedia. No Jimmy, I’m not donating for stuff like this.

I’m not into ponies and horses (those allegations never even went to court), but I am into microbiology and this does have a microbiological side because the sickness is believed to be caused by a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. Yes, what’s killing horses left, right and centre is the same stuff Helen Zille injects into her face.

And it is killing horses. Almost invariably. Let’s look at the mortality rates for a few human diseases:

Influenza A (and by this, I mean actual Influenza, not “‘flu”) kills about 0.1% of people who get it.
Bubonic plague (the “Black Death”) kills about 5% of those it infects.
Mortality in those affected by the recent West African Ebola Epidemic was around 53% (although, it’s complicated).

EGS kills 95% of the horses that get it. Ninety-five!

I’m pretty happy that I’m not a horse right now. Or… in fact… ever.

Brilliantly, according to Polo Times, one of the best ways to limit the chances of your equine getting EGS is not letting your equine eat grass. Who knew? (I bet wikipedia knew.)

PT is equally insightful in their “What to look out for” section on EGS:

  • Peracute: The horse is found dead in the field having presumably ingested large amounts of the bacteria.

That’s hugely helpful. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that. Thanks.

Anyway, if you have horses (and I suspect this is mainly aimed at the Northern hemisphere), then apparently it’s well worth your while to be careful what you let them eat in the Springtime.