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Not Enough is Known About Botox Essay examples

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Thesis - Not enough is known about "the long term use and the long term side effects of the toxin, despite the fact that Botox has been approved by The Food and Drug Administration and is being used for a variety of medical conditions."

Everyday, as I go through the morning ritual of applying my make-up, the visible signs of aging are becoming more apparent. I see skin that is starting to sag and everyday, I swear, a new wrinkle appears. Of the many things I can find fault with on my aging face, the most bothersome are the deep creases between my eyebrows. For this reason, five months ago, I decided to check out my options for obliterating these deep valleys on my forehead. After calling several cosmetic surgeons in the …show more content…

In addition, considering it is a relatively new procedure, I wanted to know if there were other doctors in the local area who were performing this procedure and, most importantly, the price I would have to pay to undo my furrowed brow.

Through my research I found that Botox, the trade name for Botulinum Toxin type A, is a "neuromuscular junction blocking agent produced by the bacterium Clostridium Botulinum" ("Botulinum Toxin"). In other words, Botox is derived from the same poisonous bacterium which causes botulism - a deadly food poisoning. The Botox works "by blocking the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which results in muscle weakness. It does not alter the muscle or the nerve, but prevents the relay of information between the two" ("Botulinum Toxin"). Therefore, Botox is beneficial in the treatment of wrinkles and frown lines because it causes specific muscles to relax, which in turn lessens the lines of facial expressions. Because Botox relaxes specific muscles, it is also used to treat a variety of medical conditions dealing with muscle spasms.

Botox was first used in the 1980s to treat muscular problems with the eyes, such as uncontrolled blinking and squinting, lazy eyes and crossed eyes (Health Beat). Botox has also been used to stop excess sweating by injecting the toxin into the sweat ducts in the skin (Channel 2000). However, in 1989, Dr.

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