Botox beyond wrinkles
Botox is famous for cosmetic uses, but there are an increasing number of medical benefits as well. This article is about its use in newborns. Do some browsing and discover other medical benefits. Describe how the botulinum toxin helps, and provide a URL.
28 comments:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505162906.htm
I am really glad to hear that Botox can be beneficial in medical uses.
I have done more research about botulinum toxin, to discover medical benefits other than CHARGE syndrome. From the website above, a research by American Academy of Neurology proves that botulinum toxin can benefit treating the cervical dystonia, treating the involuntary head tilt or neck movement, and other forms of muscle over activity. Also, it can be useful treating certain voice disorders. Although botulinum toxin is effective in relieving disorders associated with muscles, this article proves that botox is not an effective treatment for migraine, or some kinds of headaches.
The benefits of Botox use in alleviating and prevention of headache and Migraine pain is controversial. The number of patients treated with botox is still small. A study presented at the 45th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society (AHS) reported that eighty percent of patients after treatment with Botox, their head pain was less frequent, less intense, or both. The study involved 271 patients who suffer from migraines and other head pain. The patients were those individuals who had tried other therapies without success. The principal investigator of this study was Dr. Blumenfeld at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, Ca.
http://headaches.about.com/cs/prevention/a/ahs03_botox.htm
I had no idea that there were so many different uses for botox. I always thought that it was strictly used for cosmetic reasons. Botox apparently is used to help treat over active bladders. By injecting botox into various places in the bladder, the toxin prevents muscles from having spasms by blocking the protein receptors. These spasms in the bladder cause the feeling of urgency and results in frequent urination. The effects of botox can last 4 to 6 months.
http://www.bcm.edu/findings/vol2/is2/04feb_n3.htm
i looked up "botox uses" and i found that one of the listed things was "TMJ" which stands for tempromandibular joint. it stood out to me because i have this problem and am currently in the process of fixing it. Dentists use botox to help TMJ patients relieve their symptoms by injecting it into the muscles that TMJ affects. A group of 46 was tested with this process and they noticed “significant improvements in pain, function, mouth opening, and tenderness to palpation.” It is injected into the muscles that have extra contraction, so it does not make the muscle work any less, but instead, goes back to having the amount of strength for normal use. The injections “re-establish the balance between masticatory closing and opening muscles” which alleviates TMJ symptoms. It rids of bad habits such as tooth grinding and clenching as well.
In later paragraphs, it goes onto discuss the splint therapy that many have relied on in the past years to treat TMJ, which is what I have gone through to fix my problem, but it says that this type of treatment is not effective for preventing and eliminating other symptoms of TMJ. This worries me, because it’s the treatment I use, but I think it is okay because it has gotten rid of many of the symptoms for me, so I guess I got lucky! But I wonder how the process would've went if my dentist had used botox on me rather than had me use the splint retainer...
for more info on botox and TMJ:
http://www.dallascosmeticdentist.us/tmj-symptoms.html
http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/095_bot.html
This article discusses the good in botulism. Apparently, "purified botulism toxin is the first bacterial toxin to be used as a medicine. FDA licensed botulinum toxin as Oculinum in December 1989 for treating two eye conditions--blepharospasm and strabismus--characterized by excessive muscle contractions."
There are other uses for the toxin as well, such as: spasmodic dysphonia (which results in speech that is difficult to understand), urinary bladder muscle relaxation (such as in cases where muscle contraction is severe enough to require catheterized urination), esophageal sphincter muscle relaxation, and the management of tics.
Botox can also be used in cases of excessive sweating in patients. When used correctly, it can be safer than corrective surgery because it doesn't have the risks. Just as the toxin inhibits the nerves that cause the muscles to contract, it inhibits some of the nerves in the hand, foot or armpit that stimulate the sweat glands. Some insurance companies are even covering Botox treatment! Cool stuff (: Profuse sweating, anyone?
http://www.healthleader.uthouston.edu/archive/Dermatology/2005/botox-0603.html
This was a great story. I never knew Botox had benefits beyond cosmetics. My research has yielded that Botox can also be used to treat excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis. It does so the same way it smoothes wrinkles or excessive salivation. Botox acts as an inhibitor inhibitor, blocking chemical signals sent from nerves that control sweating. Patients include those with severe foot, palm or underarm sweating usually.
http://www.docshop.com/education/dermatology/injectables/botox/sweating/
http://www.docshop.com/education/de
rmatology/injectables/botox/sweating/
I recently learned about Cerebral Palsy which is a collection of non contagious, non progressive conditions that cause physical disorder during human development. It is localized in the cerebrum and is a disorder of movement, which is where the name comes from. CP is caused by damage to the motor controls of the young developing brain, and can occur in pregnancy or after birth, up to the age three. From reading the article on the website, http://www.cosmeticsurgery.com/articles/archive/an~95, I have uncovered that doctors have used botox to relax muscles and allow for improved limb function and less pain for children with this disease. Common symptoms of CP are stiff, spastic arms and legs caused by abnormal signals sent from the brain to muscles in the limbs, causing them to stiffen and contract. Botox interrupts, the signals from traveling from the brain to the spinal chords, allowing the muscles to relax.
I googled medical benefits of botox and discovered that botox is currently being researched to treat stroke spasticity (the contraction of muscles after a stroke that inhibits movement). The study was done on 279 stroke patients for a period of a year. The patients were given six injection of botox mostly in their wrist, thumb, fingers and elbow to block overactive nerve impulses that cause contractions. On their sixth injection these patients saw a remarkable difference in their ability to move muscles without having severe pain. The result also showed an increase in better hygiene in these patients.
Other oral medicines that are used to treat a post stroke tend to have many side effects such as mental confusion, dizziness and muscle aches. However, Botox has shown to have none of these side effects and shown to work very well.
Its good to know that Botox is still being used to treat illness; the reason it was invented for.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/32812.php
I had heard before that Botox had some benefits for those with muscle spasms or excessive sweating, but this article was entirely new to me. The fact that a POISON can actually heal someone, only a few months old, is incredible and risky at the same time. Although it's only been done by a few select doctors, I hope to see further research on its use for Charge Syndrome in order to fully understand any side effects that may not show up immediately after the treatment.
Botox is also handy for treating muscle spasms associated with cervical dystonia (CD). There are 4 types of CD: torticollis (where the chin points to 1 shoulder), laterocollis (the head tilts to 1 side), anterocollis (the head tilts forward), and retrocollis (the head tilts backward). All 4 types of CD are approved for treatment by Botox, which helps to improve head tilting, decrease pain and how often the pain occurs, and improve the ability to accomplish everyday tasks. The website, botox.com, claims that Botox will directly work on the muscle that has spasm (most likely by injecting it directly on that muscle). After one treatment, the patient may feel relief first before experiencing relaxed muscles for up to 3 months until another dosage is needed. I think the only problem with such a treatment is that you need to keep visiting the doctor to get injected with Botox, but I'm sure it's better than popping a cocktail of pills that can have major side effects. CD seems to be worst for those whose occupation or hobby requires them to complete repetitive movements such as musicians or artists. Some common symptoms are head tilting, tremors or shaking, problems swallowing, neck and shoulder pain, muscles spasms or tightness, and head turning, pulling, or shifting to one side. One should also be aware of these symptoms if they become worse after stress and/or doing a certain activity such as driving. Overall, Botox can help to reduce spasms and pain allowing those affected with CD to be able to lead more normal lives.
http://www.botoxmedical.com/SignsCervicalDystonia.aspx
http://www.botoxmedical.com/TypesCervicalDystonia.aspx
In the article 'New use of Botox helps voice disorders' posted at http://www.news-medical.net/?id=818 explains the use of Botox to treat spasmodic dysphonia. Spasmodic Dysphonia, also known as SD is a type of dystonia that usually affects adults. SD causes a change in the movement of the vocal cords that makes someone speak with a "strained" voice, sounding as if they are about to cry. This can have dramatic repurcussions in one's social life and personal self-confidence. Botox has been shown to relax the vocal cords in patients with SD.
In a study of 36 patients, almost all showed a dramatic improvement with their speech after Botox injections. At the beginning of the study, most patients rated 30 out of 100 as their voice related quality of life, V-RQOL, or "poor". After the study, the average score was 80 or "good". This is a treatment promising to help many people by raising their V-RQOL.
It's comforting to know that Botox has many other benefits other than for cosmetic use. Having done more research on botox, I found out that it has a wide range of therapeutic uses and it has become a very common treatment for a number of ophthalmic and neurological disorders. When injected into a muscle, Botox blocks the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from transmitting nerve impulses, and thus stops the muscle from contracting. As a result, it can provide great relief for a number of neurological disorders characterized by abnormal muscle spasms. The following conditions can be treated with botox: cross-eyedness, eyelid spasms, facial spasms, neck spasms, muscle spasms, headaches, speech problems, and even excessive sweating. Look at http://www.torontobotox.com/medical.html to find out more about how botox treats the above problems.
http://www.mirm.pitt.edu/news/article.asp?qEmpID=177
It is great to hear that Botox can actually help people in treating many diseases. With advances in research and technology, more benefits are bound to come. One benefit of using Botox that I was able to find was that it helps patients with prostate problems. A research team from Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical College and University Medical College in Taiwan found that men with enlarged prostate had Botox injected in them and this helped ease their life for the next year. This simple process takes about 5minutes and is effective for an entire year. Botox is shown to be safe and is eases symptoms and improves the quality of life. The study also revealed that 75% of patients suffering from Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) experienced partial symptom relief after using Botox. Overall, Botox has many other benefits as mentioned in other posts and it is a great discovery in the field of science that will benefit many others.
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/06/17/botox/index.html
This article also supports how Botox can get rid of headaches. What started out as stopping frown lines, actually turned out to have a medical advantage also. Though you have to get many shots to the neck, head, and shoulders, it helps relieve headaches and also stiffness. Researches think it is due to the blocking of sensory nerves and relaxes the muscles which makes them less sensitive to pain.
Botox not only has cosmetic uses, but has been found to have many medical uses as well. It has been found that botox can also treat crossed-eyes. They lengthen the injected eye muscle and shorten the opposing eye muscle with botox. It lasts for about 3 months, then the procedure must be repeated every 3 months.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA367947
http://www.drkoop.com/newsdetail/93/8014896.html
I recently found out that botulinum toxin type A, as known as Botox, relieves severe knee pain.
University of Minnesota in Minneapolis conducted an experiment with 37 men and women with serious osteoarthritis, and the result shows significant decrease in pain and physical improvement for those who received Botox injection.
Botox has been used experimentally in Opthamology for the past 40 years. In Strabismus, Botox has been effective in helping patients realign their vision. It has also been effective in treating eyelid disorders such as Blepharospasm (which is commonly associated with dry eye). By injecting Botox, a patient with this disease can avoid surgery because Botox is able to break the viscious cycle created by Blehpharospasm, dry eye and infection. Botox can also aid in abnormal movement of the eye as it paralyzes certain muscles so that spasms and other iregularities can be stopped.
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:i5Fb6wNHcKwJ:www.bjhm.co.uk/cgi-bin/go.pl/library/article.cgi%3Fuid%3D1623%3Barticle%3Dhm_62_8_477_479+botulinum+toxin+alternative+uses&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us
Botulinum toxin provides other medical benefits besides cosmetic reasons. Botulinum toxin is being used as a therapeutic agent to treat disorders as strabismus, spasmodic torticollis and loss of sphincter control. These disorders are characterized by excessive activing in cholinergic nerves. Botulinum toxin is known for injecting near nerves to block release of acetylcholine. To avoid repeating previous posts, there are four clinical areas where the toxin is accepted for therapeutic use. First is ophthalmology: treat strabismus. Second is neurology: treat focal and segmental dystonias. Third is otolaryngology: treat spasmodic dysphonia. Lastly, areas of medicine such as gastroenterology-treat smooth muscles and sphincter control. All are treated by acting on cholinergic cells. Botulinum toxin has a long duration on action, can last from several months to more than a year. http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/125/7/616
Another interesting fact from this website: http://www.udaan.org/botulinum/botulin.html
Small doses of botulinum toxin can have some benefit for people who had stroke and patients with spasticity due to cerebral palsy. The toxin can help reduce the leg muscle spasticity that disables their ability to walk and run. Downside news is that Botulinum toxin injection only gives a short term benefit, and is not likely to give permanent relief in cases of Cerebral palsy with spasticity
I found it very interesting to read this posting in regards to the benefit Botox can be for Charge syndrome. I say this because many people laugh and are disturbed by the notion of getting Botox because it’s overdone in the entertainment realm by celebrities and such. At least to me, it appears that Botox has a very bad, shallow, and dangerous connotation attached to its name. Recently news coverage’s have reported deaths due to Botox, and cerebral damage as well. It was good and interesting to read about how useful it can be towards infants or people who need it to survive, and not for vain purposes.
I read the many posts and researched the web hoping to find another way Botulinum Toxin (type a) can be a medical benefit.
I stumbled upon articles that stated Botox was medically used for the treatment of Meige’s Syndrome. Meige’s Syndrome is the names given to hemi facial spasms, which have to do with facial twitching and or facial spasms on one side of the face. This medical condition affects muscles activated by the facial nerve from stimulation by a blood vessel being too close to the nerve. Or it can also follow due to a bad regeneration of the facial nerve. *In severe cases the spasms can cause the mouth to clamp shut and make it difficult for the individual to eat, talk, or swallow. It is said to first evolve from twitches of the eyelid.
The treatment is used by injecting the Botox into the affected muscles. It causes muscle paralysis, or in other words does not allow that muscle to contract by blocking the electrical message that tells the muscle to move. It has to do with what we learned in lecture and how Botox blocks the release of Acetylcholine. It is done with three injections:
Certified NeuroSurgical Resource: http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-HFS.htm
& http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/hemifacial_spasm/hemifacial_spasm.htm#Is_there_any_treatment
Botox is a neurotoxin protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring substances in the world, and it is the most toxic protein. Though it is highly toxic, it is used in minute doses both to treat painful muscle spasms, and as a cosmetic treatment in some parts of the world.
One treatment that Botox is uesd for is in the treatment of focal dystonias. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. The disorder may be inherited or caused by other factors such as birth-related or other physical trauma, infection, poisoning or reaction to drugs.
Botox is used in order to help eleviate some of the symptoms of the dystonia. Botulinum toxin injections into affected muscles have proved quite successful in providing some relief for around 3-6 months, depending on the kind of dystonia. Botox injections have the advantage of ready availability (the same form is used for cosmetic surgery) and the effects are not permanent. There is a risk of temporary paralysis of the muscles being injected or the leaking of the toxin into adjacent muscle groups causing weakness or paralysis in them. The injections have to be repeated as the effects wear off and around 15% of recipients will develop immunity to the toxin. There is a Type A and Type B toxin approved for treatment of dystonia; often those that develop resistance to Type A may be able to use Type B.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystonia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botox#Medical_uses
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/other-uses-of-botox-besides-stopping-wrinkles-257494.html
I had always assumed that Botox was mostly used by spoiled Hollywood celebrities and people who want to keep denying how old they really are. But its good to know that it can also be used for greater purposes.
According to the article I read Botox can be used to alleviate various ailments that affect the every day human being. The chemical can treat: Migraines, excessive sweating, Muscle Spasm, Enlarged Prostate and bladder problems. All these issues can be solved because Botox acts by relaxing muscle and nerve tissue. So pain or discomfort cannot be felt
I did some additional research and found that Botox has been used for treatment of achlasia in high risk type patients such as the elderly and those with diabetes mellitus. Since these patients are high surgical risk patients, botox is an alternate treatment. Achalasia is an esophageal motility disorder with impaired peristalsis and improper spincter muscle control for swallowing. Unfortunately, it has been reported that this type of treatment is costly and associated with possibly mediastinitis.
http://www.nature.com/ncpgasthep/journal/v4/n10/full/ncpgasthep0951.html
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-63955-Botox+Cosmetic+Intramuscular.aspx?drugid=63955&drugname=Botox+Cosmetic+Intramuscular
I found this article titled "Drugs and Treatment-Botox Cosmetic Intramuscular". It is very interesting to hear that Botox can benefit people in the medical field. My view on botox was that it is an unnecessary AND harmful thing to inject in your face because there are so many side effects when you use it. However, I found out through researching that Botox Cosmetic IM is used to fix eye disorders like crossed eyes, uncontrollable blinking, and muscle movement disorders. They help fix "Eyelid Twitch, Twisting Neck Spasms, Abnormality causing Eyes Not To Look In Same Direction, Deep Lines Between Eyebrows, Excessive Sweating." I would have never guessed that Botox injection could possibly help improve these eye disorders.
The most interesting fact is that it also reduces sweat in your armpid area! Botulinum toxin works to block the chemicals that turn on the sweat gland.
It was interesting to discover that not only can the botulinum toxin be used as a positive medical intervention as opposed to solely being used for cosmetic purposes, but also it not limited to only a few medical uses. From other blogs posted on this subject I learned that Botox can help with headaches, voice disorders and many others. I fund an article that uses Botox to treat an overactive bladder.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071205095354.htm
At UT Southwestern, Urologist Dr. Gary Lemack, helped a patient who was paralyzed from the waist down, solve her uncontrollable bladder contractions by injecting her bladder with Botox. The results of the Botox were that the cells that had been damage normally would send signals to the bladder to contract at inappropriate times cause the patient to have accidents. With the Botox injections to the bladder the damage cells would still send the signal, but the bladder would not contract. The Botox did not damage any other functioning; it was isolated to the bladder walls. The patient found the treatment a better alternative to invasive bladder surgery and reinstated her independence.
A unique case this past February highlighted some of the less known clinical uses of Botox.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/175064910.html
Botulinum toxin A [Botox] had proven to be effective against hyperhidrosis, but its use to control normal perspiration around abdominal stomas to enhance adhesion of colostomy appliances had not been previously reported in the medical literature before Dr. Raza managed to apply it to this unusual case with this young girl in Chicago.
Some women view Botox as the answer to all their prayers. Botulinum toxin has long been hailed as the top choice for reducing age lines on faces, making individuals look younger, healthier, and more beautiful. Botox is taken from Bacteria and injected into the muscle. The muscle is then weakened and can no longer contract. This is not the only positive aspect of Botox for it has other benefits as well. Men with enlarged prostates can inject the poison into their prostates which causes the infection to decrease to a smaller size. A study by the University Hospital Agostino Gemelli in Rome did just that. The researchers injected botox into the enlarged prostates of 30 men. All the outcomes were positive. The injection also caused the level of cancer risk to decrease as well (shrank the PSA levels).
http://men.webmd.com/news/20030804/botox-treatment-aids-enlarged-prostate
This is an article that is based on research whether botulinum toxin was effective treating tennis elbow. According to the Wikipedia, tennis elbow is "a condition where the outer part of the elbow becomes painful and tender". This symptoms can be seen not only people who play tennis. The researchers studied with sixty adults for three months, and they found out that it was significantly improved pain. Injecting botulinum toxin actually worked to reduce people's pain. I was surprised that botulinum toxin can be used as treatments to people. It was interesting to find out the fact.
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/143/11/I-48
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