Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Botox in My Face? Probably Not!

The April Journal of Neuroscience reported that scientists injected rats' whisker muscles with botulism toxin. Tests of the rodents' brain tissue found that botulism had been transported to the brain stems.

Botox is Allergan's (the largest ophthalmic pharmaceutical company) biggest product, with $1.21 billion in sales last year. The drug, approved in 1989, became fashionable among aging celebrities, and many of my friends, who were seeking to smooth facial wrinkles. It it is now used to treat some neurological disorders with fairly good success.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether patients contracted botulism, a muscle-weakening illness, from Botox. Wouldn't you think they would have investigated this, admitedly small, possibility before it was approved.


I must ask you, didn't the idea of injecting botulism into ones face seem beyond reasonable the first time you heard that Hollywood was doing this to preserve the illusion of youth?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what does the FDA do? Everything I read makes me think they do nothing.

Ellen Troyer, MT MA said...

The FDA does a lot to protect us in many areas.

However, some FDA investigators seem to wear blinders when it comes to being careful about science that would slow down or prohibit approval of drugs from companies that use them for outside consulting gigs.

It's up to the public to demand that this practice come to a halt. If it requires higher salaries for qualfied FDA investigators so they don't have to take outside consulting jobs to make ends meet, then so be it.

Anonymous said...

I think women who have botox injected into their faces look like freaks.

Ellen Troyer, MT MA said...

I agree Harold. Some of the most beautiful women I know aren't letting themselves gently age, and everyone talks about how freaky they look, but continues to tell them they look simply fabulous to their overly lifted, and botoxed faces.

Being physically fit, intellectually curious, and contented with our place in life makes us look and seem more vital than any cosmetic procedure.