MONDAY, April 15, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- In what may be a case of closing the barn door after the horse got out, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given approval to use a form of the deadly botulism bacteria as a type of cosmetic treatment that temporarily smoothes out wrinkles.
Botulinum Toxin Type A, which is marketed by Allergan, Inc. of Irvine, Calif., under the name of Botox®, had previously been approved by the FDA to treat a number of neurological disorders: strabismus (crossed eyes), blepharospasm (uncontrollable blinking) and head position and neck pain associated with cervical dystonia, a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions.
Here's what the FDA said in its Talk Paper about the way Botox works: "When used in medical settings as an injectable form of sterile, purified botulinum toxin, small doses of the toxin are injected into the affected muscles and block the release of the chemical acetylcholine that would otherwise signal the muscle to contract. The toxin thus paralyzes or weakens the injected muscle." Translation: If you have frown lines, an injection of Botox will make them go away for up to three months.
FDA approval comes after the use of botulinum was already well-established in the cosmetic treatment community. This site for The Plastic Surgery Network freely discusses using Botox for wrinkle "removal" long before FDA approval was given.
Here is the FDA's Talk Paper announcing the approval.
And if you want to know all the properties of the botulinum bacterium, here is the FDA description.
Finally, to see how Botox works in helping treat neurological disorders, here is the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation.
