Phar Lap mystery solved

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by prudery

Wikipedia is not anymore reliable than Yahoo at times ... I wish I could find the article I found from Australia---after a couple of glasses of wine---that claimed the arsenic was yet indistinguishable ...


At any rate, the arsenic in the insecticide was ingested---duh, internally as well ...

Arsenic poisoning also produces diarrhea, which Phar Lap did not have prior to his death according to the veterinary reports of the time ......

The 40 hour ingestion was improved upon Phar Lap's then vet Nielsen, who targeted the onset of illness at 48 without modern technology ..

I appreciate the reference, but I am not yet sold ...

Phar Lap is a favorite of mine, and I have a 1933 rare book written by a vet who witnessed the opening of his heart ... He concurs that arsenic was present, but promotes the acute enteritis theory ...

Certainly the arsenic was recognized then, but the latest claim that a " large dose was ingested " does not ---with all the technology---indicate how large and how much was needed to prove fatal .....

I am sticking with the probable cause being Duodenitis-Proximal Jejeunitis--a nearly always fatal bacterial derived enteritis thought to be related to botulism ...

That a buildup of residual and additional toxins like arsenic may have triggered this affliction is very likely ...

In any event, the horse died toxic, and it was a wretched and undeserved death for this outstanding racehorse ...

"In 2000, equine specialists studying the two necropsies concluded that Phar Lap probably died of duodenitis-proximal jejunitis, an acute bacterial gastroenteritis. It was not until the 1980s that the infection could be formally identified."

^
same article

he died in 1932. why is "new info" in 2000 more reliable than "new info" in 2008?

[prudery]

Originally Posted by hi_im_god

"In 2000, equine specialists studying the two necropsies concluded that Phar Lap probably died of duodenitis-proximal jejunitis, an acute bacterial gastroenteritis. It was not until the 1980s that the infection could be formally identified."

^
same article

he died in 1932. why is "new info" in 2000 more reliable than "new info" in 2008?

I like the way you think ...

The DPJ theory was totally consistant with all earlier anecdotal and medical evidence including necropsy from 1932 on ... At the time of Phar Lap's death, the vets ruled out arsenic as the exclusive killer and ruled in enteritis in conjunction with arsenic---though this form was unknown then ...

More congruence than the 2008 stuff, IMHO ...

Arsenic being the exact cause of death was ruled out from the get go based on necropsy and clinical symptoms ... A modern test which reveals a large dose of arsenic without detailing the amount needed to induce death, and the amount of time it would take from ingestion to death,to me, can not be the final answer ....

I was, however mistaken that the test was one done prior in 2006, it was the latest version of this technology ...


What I guess I am saying is that I do not believe the test can conclusively rule out that arsenic and other toxins can result in DPJ ... Can it ??? And how ... It only reveals a large amount of arsenic in the sytem, if indeed the separation of taxidermy and ingested arsenic was exact as claimed ...

Stubborn beeyatch, aren't I ???