BOTOX shots, cosmetic injections typically used to smooth facial wrinkles, will now be able to help patients in the UK who suffer from debilitating headaches.
The toxin, which paralyses muscles to reduce temporarily the signs of aging, has been approved as a treatment for chronic migraine, which affects an estimated 700,000 people in Britain.
The injections could now be prescribed as a preventive treatment for adults who suffer regular migraines for up to eight days a month, or headaches at least every other day.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said that it was the first time that Botox, or botulinum toxin, had been approved for treatment of headaches and migraine.
Migraines affect one in eight men and women, and can be completely disabling and disrupt normal activities for up to three days at a time. They cause more sick days than any other illness – costing the UK economy more than £2 billion ($3.2 billion) a year. Previous research has suggested that the jabs could reduce the frequency of migraine attacks and prevent some of the symptoms by paralysing the sensory nerves in the face and neck. Experts believe that some of these nerves are responsible for delivering messages to the brain, including pain.
In February, American researchers reported that courses of low-dose Botox injections could be effective against crippling pain that made patients feel as if their head were going to “implode”. However, they were less useful with “exploding” migraines, in which there is a sensation of pressure inside the head.
The latest trials, funded by Allergan, the makers of Botox, found that seven out of 10 patients had the frequency of their migraines reduced by 50 per cent compared with placebo injections.
The participants, who all reported having headaches for an average of four hours a day, received up to five courses of treatment with Botox every 12 weeks, each course involving 30 small injections in the head and neck. After 24 weeks of treatment, those who had Botox averaged the equivalent of 8.2 fewer migraine days, compared with 6.2 fewer days for a placebo group.
Dr Mark Weatherall, a consultant neurologist at Charing Cross Hospital, London, and spokesman for the Migraine Trust, described the latest trial results as “really impressive” for the treatment of chronic migraine.
“We don’t know for certain how this works but it seems to be playing a role in the processing of sensation in the area it’s given, and a knock-on effect in the way the brain processes pain,” he said. “Chronic migraine is more than just a headache – it’s an extraordinary debilitating condition that costs people their jobs and their social lives.
“This is not a panacea. It’s not going to work for everybody. But it is a useful addition to the treatments we have, such as painkillers or beta-blockers.”
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