Patients who received Botox injections simultaneously in four places on the body had 22-72% less anxiety compared to controls group.
Botox is often used in cosmetology, it can help if a person does not yet have large excess skin. In this case, Botox can replace a surgical lift. The results of the injections will be noticeable almost immediately, which is why many women love this drug dearly. But it turns out that Botox injections have other interesting properties.
American scientists from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, and their German colleagues may have found a new use for Botox. This discovery was made possible by one of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) databases. In the FDA report, researchers looked at and then studied the reactions of nearly 40,000 people to botulinum toxin.Botox or botulinum toxin is a drug that blocks neuromuscular transmission. It is commonly used to reduce wrinkles, migraines, muscle spasms, excessive sweating and urinary incontinence. Botox is made from the bacteria Clostridium botulinum and is made up of neurotoxin type A and some other proteins.
The study found that people who received Botox injections in four different places on the body, not just the forehead, were significantly less likely to report about anxiety. Unlike patients who were treated with other methods.
“A wide variety of side effects are regularly reported to the FDA. The main goal of the experts who review these reports is to find those harmful side effects that were not identified in clinical trials,” said Ruben Abagyan, Ph.D., professor of pharmacy. “However, our idea was different. Why don't we do the opposite and look for positive side effects?
Abagyan and his team examined the database for the absence or reduction in the incidence of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders as health complaints. The team then used a mathematical algorithm to look for statistically significant differences between patients who received Botox and those who received other treatments.
Scientists found that the reported risk of anxiety was 22-72% lower in patients who received Botox simultaneously in the facial muscles for cosmetic procedures, the facial and scalp muscles for migraines, the upper and lower extremities for spasms and spasticity and neck muscles with torticollis.