October 5, 2011 · 9:14 pm
- Botox is an amalgam of the words Botulinum and Toxin. That’s Botulinum as in Botulism. Botulism is considered the most powerful neurotoxin known to man. The botulinum toxin is, in fact, spores created by bacteria Clostridium botulinum and can cause paralysis which begins in the cranial nerves and moves southward, causing in extreme cases a paralysis of the respiratory muscles. That makes you die.
- The toxin can be contracted in one of three ways:
- The colonization of the digestive tract by the bacteria C. botulinum. This can happen in adults but is more likely in infants. A 1979 study found a strong correlation between the feeding of honey to infants and the development of botulism because of a preponderance of the bacteria in honey.
- The ingestion of food containing the toxin. This is the most widely known means of contraction and the most obvious (although infant botulism is statistically more common). Historical food taboos, such as injunctions against eat pork and shellfish, are believed to have emerged as preventative measures against botulism. The first categorical study of food-borne botulism was undertaken by German physician Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner in the early part of the 19th century. He referred to the sickness as “sausage poison.” Kerner was also a poet. (Botulus is Latin for sausage.)
- Wound infection. This happens to black-tar heroin users in particular, and those who inject drugs into the skin rather than into the veins, which isn’t a thing I thought you could do. It’s called “skin-popping.”
- Symptoms of botulism poisoning include loss of ocular control, double vision, difficulty chewing and swallowing, probably some drool, and drooping of both eyelids. Food-borne cases are treated by removing the tainted contents of one’s gut. Either end works. Wound botulism is treated surgically.
- There were 28 reported deaths from the injection of Botox between 1989 and 2003. None were from cosmetic procedures. Botulism toxin can be used to treat a number of conditions including excessive blinking, the Squints, excessive sweating, anal fissure, vagina spasms, and reducing the mass of the Masseter muscle so as to decrease the apparent size of the lower jaw. Those last three aren’t FDA approved uses, but effective none the less.
- Studies have indicated that users of cosmetic Botox show a decreased ability to read emotions. Signals normally sent to the brain by facial muscle movement appear to be key in one’s ability to recognize emotional displays from others. Those muscles are partially paralyzed by botulinum toxin, impeding the delivery of those signals. However, no one has yet been surprised to learn that those vain enough to inject a neurotoxin into their face have empathy problems.
