How Does Botox Treatment Help In Depression?
Botox, an amino acid extracted from Clostridium bacilli, is famous for its ability to fill wrinkles on the face. However, because of its muscle relaxant effect, Botox has many medical applications.
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In addition to cosmetic applications, Botox is also used to aid in the treatment of several medical conditions – including depression. If you are interested in Botox injections Toronto, we can offer you a deeper look into a rather unexpected effects that this popular method can bring to your mental health.
An accidental discovery
It is often thought that new drug discoveries are associated with huge laboratories and arduous clinical trials. For Botox, however, the benefits begin with off-label use.
Botox has been shown to cure squinting and prevent chronic migraines, and this was an utterly coincidental finding.
Another accidental discovery on the benefit of Botox is how it can be used to treat depression.
Botox – an unconventional method to prevent depression
Botox Toronto’s use of this substance to treat depression may seem strange, but it is not without precedent. In 2014, Rosenthal and Finzi, two psychiatrists at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and the George Washington University School of Medicine (USA), published a new study showing that people with depression treated with Botox had more minor symptoms than those given a placebo.
The group invited more than 70 people with depression to participate in the study. Randomly among them, some will get Botox, the rest will get a placebo.
After six weeks, 52% of people who received Botox said their depressive symptoms had improved significantly, compared with only 15% of those who received a placebo. “More than 50% of patients had a response, which was a significant number,” said Dr. Finzi.
For many researchers, there are still questions surrounding the antidepressant effects of Botox.
The muscle relaxation mechanism may explain the wrinkle-reducing and the treatment of strabismus. But for other conditions, such as migraines and depression, scientists are still confused about how to explain the correlation between Botox and the remission of the disease’s symptoms.
Rosenthal and Finzi suggested that the antidepressant effect of Botox came from the facial expression feedback theory. This theory suggests that facial expressions can directly affect mood.
Some other scientists think that Botox may have more complex mechanisms that science has not yet thought of. For example, a 2008 study showed that when Botox was injected into the muscles of rats, the drug was present in the medulla oblongata.
In addition, when Botox is injected into one hemisphere of the brain, the drug will spread to the opposite hemisphere. This interesting observation suggests that Botox may have some effect on the central nervous system and brain.
The Bottom Line
A simple smile can make life brighter; similarly, if your face looks better thanks to the effects of Botox, you’ll probably feel less anxious and depressed.
Botox Toronto is among the pioneering cosmetic centers that are putting our resources into researching a new approach to using Botox. With the most experienced and talented Toronto Botox doctors, we are coming close to offering a new approach in treating depression.