The accidental rise of Botox

A sidewalk chalkboard sign advertises Botox, fillers, and facial treatments in Lafayette, California, on May 21, 2025. | Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images In the early 1800s, in southwestern Germany, outbreaks of a mysterious illness spread throughout the countryside. People who came down with it had terrible symptoms. Their eyelids would droop. Their speech would slur. They’d be gripped by a paralysis that, once it reached their breathing muscles, could be fatal.  A young doctor named Justinus Kerner was called in to investigate. Kerner had decided to go into medicine after he awoke...

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