Botox-treatment

Botox is a protein, widely used for face-lifting and anti-wrinkle therapies. It is the most common rejuvenation therapy in the United States, more than 2 million people have been treated with it. Botox is injected to the mimic muscles responsible for wrinkles. It inhibits neurotransmission between nerve ends and muscles, resulting in loss of muscle function and smoothing wrinkles. Treated areas: forehead, the area between the eyebrows, wrinkles around the eyes and lips, neck. Besides face-lifting it can be used for the treatment of hyperhydrosis of the armpits, palms and feet. It relieves muscle spasm of the neck and back very effectively.

Botox-treatment is a relatively simple procedure since it takes only 15 minutes and the patient may even return to work afterwards. But it takes a good practice and a lot of experience to get the best result with minimum risk. The effect takes 4-7 days to develop, and the best result should be seen in 4 weeks. The effect of the Botox treatment usually lasts for 6 months. The treatment can be repeated over and over.

Medical use of Botox

Researchers discovered in 1950 that injecting type A of Botulinum toxin in overactive muscles decreases the activity of the muscle by inhibiting neurotransmission between nerves and muscles. The muscle will be unable to contract for 4-6 months without damaging nerve ends.

Alan Scott an ophthalmologist in San Francisco has used first Botulinum toxin to treat strabism, but he needed a partner to authorize the discovered procedure and to make a product from it – and this was Allergan Inc., as mentioned earlier, that bought the rights in 1988 and the product was approved by FDA in 1989. The toxin used by Alan Scott was later named as Botox.

The cosmetic use of Botox was discovered by two plastic surgeons, Dr. Alastair and Dr. Jean Carruthers. Dr. Carruthers and his wife who treated ophthalmologic diseases with Botox. They noticed that wrinkles disappeared around the treated area. After formal trials the FDA authorized the use of Botox-A for cosmetic interventions in 2002. Botox-injection has been the most common cosmetic intervention USA since 2006.

History of Botox

Justinus Kerner a German physician and poet described Botulinum toxin as “sausage poison” and “fatty poison” between 1818 and 1822 as the bacterium often caused poisoning by growing in improperly handled or prepared meat products. It was Kerner who first conceived a possible therapeutic use of Botulinum toxin. The new term botulism was created by Muller (another German physician) from the Latin botulus (sausage) word. In 1895, Emile van Ermengem identified the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. In 1944, Edward Schantz cultivated Clostridium botulinum and identified the toxin, and then in 1949, Burgen’s group discovered that Botulinum toxin inhibits neuromuscular transmission.

Around 1973, Alan B Scott, a researcher of Smith-Kettlewell Institute used first type A of Botulinum toxin (BTX-A) in experiments on monkeys and he was the first to use it officially on humans to treat strabism in 1980. In December 1989, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of BTX-A (BOTOX) for the treatment of strabism and hemifacial spasm in patients over 12 years old. The cosmetic effect of Botox was brought to notice by Jean Carruthers (ophthalmologist) and Alastair Carruthers (dermatologist), a couple working in Vancouver, Canada. On April 15, 2002 FDA authorized the use of type A Botulinum toxin (BOTOX Cosmetic) to treat wrinkles between the eyebrows. The use of BTX-A for the treatment of excessive underarm sweating was also approved. The acceptance of Botox for the treatment of muscle spasm and muscle function disorders is growing with approvals pending in many European countries, and there are many studies regarding its efficacy in the treatment of headache (e.g. migraine), certain prostatic diseases, asthma, obesity and many others.

In the United States Botox is manufactured by Allergan Inc., for both therapeutic and cosmetic use. The optimal storage temperature of the medication is between 2-8 °Celsius. Dysport manufactured in Ireland is a medical product of type A Botulinum toxin. This product is used world wide for the treatment of local muscle spasm and cosmetic interventions. Neuroxin is another type A toxin, manufactured by the South-Korean Medy-Tox Inc.

On December 21, 2000 FDA approved the use of type B Botulinum Toxin (BTX-B) to treat cervical muscle spasm. Trade names of BTX-B are Myobloc in the United States, and Neurobloc in the European Union.