When was BOTOX first used? In 1987, Dr. Alastair Carruthers, of Vancouver, B.C. noticed frown lines on his young assistant, Cathy Bickerton Swann and experimented with injecting a neurotoxin from the botulism bacteria to help those lines.
What is Botox? Botox is derived from the poison manufactured by the bacteria, Clostridium, a bacteria so deadly that infected people usually die from the toxins. One form of Clostridium infection is called Botulism.
Is the media giving the full story on Botox? No. For example, a typical article on MSNBC, (which told us about the 50 million ad campaign planned by Allergan, the manufacturer) led the reader to believe Botox was harmless and very effective. There was only one sentence about side effects stating that your "kissing muscles" can be affected and you can get droopy eyelids (the article assured that these would disappear in a couple of months).
So what REALLY is Botox? Botox is a deadly poison and reading the information on Allergan, the manufacturer of BOTOX, we find that the usual dose given to a human being, will kill a rat. I realize that the rat is a lot smaller but would we take small doses of Arsenic? One way of murdering a human being shown in the movies is to administer small doses of arsenic over a length of time.
What is the truth about side effects? Drooping eyelids and other side effects may NOT disappear and also according to a BOTOX forum, there is a significant number of people who, after paying $400 for a dose of BOTOX, find NO IMPROVEMENT of their wrinkles. See Botox Forum
Does Botox get into other places in your body besides your face i.e. go "systemic"? Well, yes, it can, says Allergan and any muscles it touches can be damaged (it kills the nerve in the muscle effectually killing the muscle). Like small muscles in the heart, like muscles in the lungs. And yes, there have been cases of respiratory arrest associated with Botox. On the bottle of my Progesterone Cream it says that application to the face even on the skin is one of the best ways to get a substance into the whole body.
Is Botox safe for pregnant women? No, according to Allergan. In pregnant rats and rabbits, it caused small fetal size, deformity and death. So it evidentially goes systemic enough to get down to the baby.
A smaller side effect of Botox is that it can paralyze your swallowing muscles. In some cases, states Allergan, this paralysis was serious enough to require the insertion of a feeding tube!
Other risks for BOTOX - that we KNOW about (for instance the face is close to the brain - does the toxin kill brain cells?):
Does the original BOTOX recipient still use BOTOX? No, Cathy Bickerton Swann no longer uses it. She claims that she's 45 now and had a lifestyle change, in other words, she chooses to 'look old' instead of using the 'wonder drug' she first used in 1987! Since "looking old" is universally detested by American women, one might suspect there are other reasons why she stopped using it.
More information on how Botox works:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/botox1.htm
Allegan prescribing information
http://www.botox.com/index.jsp?hp&prescribing-cosmetic
Adverse events following use of BOTOX® COSMETIC should be reported to the Medical Affairs Division, Allergan Pharmaceuticals (1-800-433-8871). Adverse events may also be reported to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Adverse Event Reporting System. Report forms and reporting requirement information can be obtained from Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) through a toll free number 1-800-822-7967.
An antitoxin is available in the event of immediate knowledge of an overdose or mis-injection. In the event of an overdose or injection into the wrong muscle, immediately contact Allergan for additional information at (800) 433-8871 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, or at (714) 246-5954 for a recorded message at other times. The antitoxin will not reverse any botulinum toxin induced muscle weakness effects already apparent by the time of antitoxin administration.
article by Sue Widemark co 2004, all rights reserved