For the life of me, I couldn’t understand even a whit how some people would love to destroy their own faces by going to a dermaclinic in a vain effort to removes their wrinkles through Botox injection. This is definitely one of life’s many incomprehensibles.
Now there’s a recent warning from the Food and Drug Administration that those who have undergone Botox treatment stand a good chance not only of looking like Michael Jackson or the Predator (remember the alien monster?) but also of suffering from muscle spasms that have led to death in some cases.
Botox is best known for minimizing wrinkles by paralyzing facial muscles.
The FDA warning includes both Botox, a wrinkle-specific version called Botox Cosmetic, and its competitor, Myobloc, drugs that all use botulinum toxin to block nerve impulses, causing them to relax.
In some cases, the toxin can spread beyond the injection site to other parts of the body, paralyzing or weakening the muscles used for breathing and swallowing, a potentially fatal side effect, the FDA warned.
The FDA has never formally approved that use for the drugs, but some other countries have.
The agency warned that people receiving a botulinum toxin injection for any reason — cosmetic or medical — should be told to seek immediate care if they suffer symptoms of botulism, including: difficulty swallowing or breathing, slurred speech, muscle weakness, or difficulty holding up their head.
The FDA warning came two weeks after the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen petitioned the agency to strengthen warnings to users of Botox and Myobloc — citing 180 reports of U.S. patients suffering fluid in the lungs, difficulty swallowing or pneumonia, including 16 deaths.
Ah, vanity, thy modern name is Botox, and it’s threatening your sanity, not to mention your soon-to-be disfigured face.