Botox brigade face unpleasant future over wrinkle banishing injections

Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday November 22, 2002 The Guardian

The Beverley Hills Botox brigade and the champagne set in the UK who have their wrinkle-banishing injections at afternoon parties are warned today by a senior doctor that something as yet unguessable but unpleasant may one day happen.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, consultant clinical neurophysiologist Peter Misra said that the long-term effects of Botox are unknown. Although the injections with a potent toxin to paralyse frown-causing muscles in the face are licensed in the US, the treatment has only been widely available for a couple of years.

While side-effects have been rare and largely restricted to the occasional droopy eyelid, inevitably no studies have been done to observe the effect on women who have had regular injections for many years.

Botulinum toxin used to be known, says Dr Misra from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, as "one of the most potent biological neurotoxins", which can cause fatal muscular paralysis.

Now its muscle-paralysing properties have turned it into a glamour drug and it is making vast profits for its manufacturers, Allergan Pharmaceuticals. Global sales rose from $25m (£16m) in 1993 to $430m (£274m) this year.

"Popular magazines and newspapers regularly report its use by celebrities from the film, television and music industries," says Dr Misra. Given such hype, he says, it may not be surprising that some of the patients seeking Botox to transform their faces may have psychological problems.

Many celebrities are rumoured to have gone under the needle, but only a few such as veteran comedienne Joan Rivers and Hollywood actress Annie Potts have admitted it.

A recent study "found that 23% of patients seeking treatment with botulinum toxin at a dermatology clinic had body dysmorphic disorder, and psychotherapy was considered the more appropriate treatment for them," he says.

"In this atmosphere of 'Botox parties' (where champagne sipping socialites are injected with botulinum toxin), it is easy to forget that botulinum toxin is a potent neurotoxin and that its very long-term effects are still unknown."

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2002

Answers

Response to Now here's a surprise: Long-term effects of Botox™ unknown

Aaargh! I had botulinum toxin injections about 17 years ago and NOT for wrinkly purposes! The effects last about three months. I can't remember if I had two or three injections. Three, I think. Glad it was only that!

You can tell who's had botox for wrinkly purposes--they can't show surprise and they can't really smile or wink. I surfed over Liza Minelli the other night and noted only her mouth moved. Kinda like Disney Animatronix, only not as lifelike. I think her husband has had a couple of shots too.

AbFab did a hilariously funny show on botox some time ago.

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2002

Response to Now here's a surprise: Long-term effects of Botox™ unknown

Friday, 22 November, 2002, 00:10 GMT

Worries over 'Botox parties'

Dr Peter Misra, from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, says that while immediate adverse reactions to Botox are rare, evidence for the long-term effects of the treatment has not yet been gathered.

It is easy to forget that it is a potent neurotoxin and that its very long-term effects are still unknown

Dr Peter Misra, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery Writing in the British Medical Journal, he said: "In this atmosphere of 'Botox parties' - where champagne-sipping socialites are injected with botulinum toxin - it is easy to forget that it is a potent neurotoxin and that its very long-term effects are still unknown."

Botox is actually made out of the poison which can make botulism such a lethal infection.

A serious botulism infection is dangerous because the toxin paralyses vital muscles needed for breathing.

However, Botox treatments involve a far smaller dose of the drug which has a similar effect, but only on a tiny area of muscle near to the injection site.

It has been used for some time to help reduce the symptoms of some forms of spasticity by correcting imbalances and spasms in muscles to improve gait and posture.

Party drug

In recent years, however, this effect has been harnessed by the cosmetic surgery industry.

If a tiny amount of the toxin is injected into certain areas of the face, it creates the effect of stretching out the muscles near the site of wrinkles or crow's feet, reducing their appearance.

Of course, the patient will be unable to move these particular muscles voluntarily.

The treatment effect lasts for a few months.

Revenue for the global sales of Botox has increased from $25m in 1993 to $310m in 2001, mainly on the back of cosmetic use.

It remains unlicensed for this use in the UK - meaning that doctors are free to use it, but must be personally responsible for any ill-effects.

A spokesman for Allergan, which manufactures Botox, said that the treatment had more than 13 years of successful clinical use in a variety of conditions.

She said: "Botox is currently used in over 70 countries, and there has been no evidence to date of any long-term safety concerns associated with the treatment.

"As with any pharmaceutical medical product, there are potential side-effects.

"Side-effects that can occur are known to be minor and of temporary nature."

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2002

Response to Now here's a surprise: Long-term effects of Botox™ unknown

brings to mind a movie I saw in which a line was repeated to a couple little girls that if they kept doing that with their faces they might end up staying that way. They were making faces at another little girl because her dog was funny looking and had one of those wide collars to prevent the dog from biting itself.

Anyhoo, the girl with the dog turned around suddenly one time and yep the little girls faces were stuck in the ugly funny positions they were making. LOL

Also, another remembrance, [I watch too much tv, I guess] an old twilight zone show where the characters were at a new years party of an old man. the old man insisted that they had to keep their ugly masks on until midnight, but then he died before midnight and they all took off their masks only to find out that their faces had molded to match the masks. LOL

oh oh! another one, I think it was Marilyn Monroe, they were trying to make her face ugly like everyone elses but the surgury didn't work and she had to go live in a colony with others like her, ugly people. LOL

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2002