AILESBURY COSMETIC: 'The history of Botulinum Toxin' by Dr. Patrick Treacy

June 21, 2009 - PRLog -- In studies dating from 1817 to 1822, Dr Justinus Kerner of Wurttemberg, Germany published the first systemic description of the clinical picture of botulism, a lethal type of food poisoning known since the era of the Roman Empire. The symptoms included malaise, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, diplopia, dilated pupils, fatigue, unsteady gait, dysphagia, thirst and when fatal, unconsciousness, rigour and ultimately death. Kerner investigated 155 cases in all. Tubinger Blatter fur Medizin and Arzneykunde. He treated 12 patients and also performed autopsies on some of them. Kerner also gave extracts from sausages that had been confiscated by the police to different animals and observed their reaction before dissecting the remains. He concluded that there was no cure for sausage poisoning and recommended that ‘all blood sausage and liverwurst still on the fireplace by February should be thrown out by the chimney sweep with the other rubbish’. With great foresight, he also noted that small amounts of the sausage poison might be useful for St Vitus’ dance Grusser O-J Die ersten systematischen Beschreibungen and teirexperimentellen Untersuchungen des Botulismus. The bacterium responsible for botulism was first isolated in 1897 from Clostridium botulinum by Emile P. Van Ermengem during dissection of postmortem tissue of victims who had died from gastroenteritis in Ellezelles, Belgium. He knew that the patients had consumed raw, salted pork and he was aware that a toxin produced by this bacterium caused this disease process. Van Ermengne E. Uber einen neuen anaeroben Bacillus and seine Beziehungen zum Botulismus Z Hygeine Infectionskrankh
The use of Botulinum Toxin in medicine

The toxin was first isolated in crystalline form by Edward J. Schantz at Camp Detrick in Maryland in 1946. Dr Alan Scott, who was researching a nonsurgical treatment for strabismus during the 1970’s, eventually used this purified toxin. Indeed, the batch prepared by Schantz and used extensively by Scott (batch 79-11) was still in use as Botox (Allergan Inc, Irvine, Calif) until December 1997. The treatment was so successful that other researchers started looking at using botulinum toxin A in larger muscle groups and it quickly became recognized that the drug was effective in the treatment of dystonias and spasm in cerebral palsy. From here, the drug was used to treat blepharospasm and it was the decisive observation in 1987 of ophthalmologist Jean Carruthers that vertical glabellar creases (frown lines) disappeared following the use of Botox to treat patients for blepharospasm that ignited the explosive cosmetic application of this product today. Jean shared the seminal observation with her husband, Alastair, who was a dermatologist. Jean Carruthers was familiar with Alan Scott’s laboratory and was aware of the potential cosmetic applications for the product. When she mentioned her findings to Alan Scott, she discovered that he had apparently used the preparation for such purposes in 1985.

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