Botulinum is one of the most dangerous toxins to humankind in existence. Only 1 nanogram of this toxin for every kilogram of a person's weight can be deadly. If it were aerosolized, only about 700g of Botulinum would be needed to kill every human on Earth. It's so deadly due to its ability to cause Botulism. This is a disease that makes all the muscles in a person's body relax, causing them to completely lose function of their motor processes. It's most dangerous when the toxin spreads to the lungs or heart, causing the patient to lose the ability to breath and circulate oxygen around the body. People often develop Botulism after ingesting food that has been contaminated with the bacteria Clostridium Botulinum, which releases the Botulinum toxin in deadly amounts.
Botulinum works by neutralizing the body's ability to send signals that tell muscles to move. It works by cleaving SNAP-25. This is a protein that is needed to be able to release acetylcholine and make it available for muscles to use. Acetylcholine causes the contraction of muscles so when it is no longer available to them, they completely lose their ability to contract.
Botulinum's ability to relax muscles is deadly yet often used in numerous clinical applications. When modified to be less toxic and delivered in the right dosages, it can cause the relaxation of muscles that were previously overactive. It can relax muscle spasms, ease migraines, and even put a stop to excessive sweating. This is done by injecting Botulinum in small amounts directly to the affected areas of the person's body.
One of the most famous applications of Botulinum is it's use in Botox cosmetic procedures. Patients have it injected into their face in small amounts, allowing for their facial muscles to relax. This can therefore ease and offset the formation of wrinkles in the patient's face. This is how such a deadly poison can be used in medical and cosmetic procedures.
Jankovic, J. (2009). Botulinum toxin: therapeutic clinical practice and science. Saunders/Elsevier.
When reading your blog it made me question what the mortality rate of this disease, especially because it is so interesting and this is new to me. However, these applications of Botulinum are so toxic, why is it that we continue to use them in procedures like Botox? Is it because it can be beneficial to some diseases, I found this article that discussed that botulinum can help with Parkinson's disease, as it can control the dystonia, the drooling, and the urinary irregularity through injections that can relax that specific part of the body, as well with midl cases of tremor. ( American Parkinson Disease Association, 2018).
ReplyDeleteRebecca Gilbert, M. (2019, August 19). The use of botulinum toxin (botox) in parkinson’s disease: APDA. American Parkinson Disease Association. https://www.apdaparkinson.org/article/botox-treatment/
This is a really interesting topic because of how we can use a potent toxin to achieve cosmetic aesthetics. Not only can botox be used for wrinkles and fine lines, but botox can be medically used to treat migraines and excessive sweating as you said! Another thing it could be used for is to treat temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. TMJ is a joint that acts like a sliding hinge to connect your jaw and skull. When your TMJ isn't working properly, it can cause jaw pain, migraines, teeth grinding at night, and pain while chewing and opening the mouth. Botox can be injected into the masseter muscle to relax the muscles used by the jaw. The result is a slimmer face due to not overusing the muscles anymore and less symptoms mentioned above. Botox can treat the symptoms, but I wonder if it treats the source. I found an article that researches the effects of botox as a treatment for TMJ below.
ReplyDeleteDutra, E. H., O’Brien, M. H., Logan, C., Tadinada, A., Nanda, R., & Yadav, S. (2018). Loading of the condylar cartilage can rescue the effects of Botox on TMJ. Calcified Tissue International, 103(1), 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-017-0385-x