Botox effects usually can continue for between 3 and 6 months. As the period ends, the muscles eventually regain their strength, and the wrinkles start to reappear. Patients can choose to undergo additional treatments to maintain their results.
One of the most significant benefits of Botox is that it can be customized to meet the specific needs of each patient. The amount of toxin used, as well as the injection sites, can be adjusted to achieve the desired results.
Scientists from the Universities of Sheffield, Reading and University College London (UCL) together with the US-based biopharmaceutical company Neuresta have produced a new, elongated botulinum neurotoxin capable of diminishing chronic pain in the absence of risk of paralysis or addiction.
Chronic pain can be quite a challenge to manage, and the drugs available now are restricted by dangerous side effects. Opioids such as morphine and fentanyl are the gold standard for relieving short-term pain, however they unable to effectively treat chronic pain as a possibility of the risk of addition, abuse and overdose, according to researchers.
The results of the research that appeared in the journal Life Science Alliance, demonstrate that a single injection of specifically engineered botulinum neurotoxin can result in long term relief in mice models, having no adverse effects.
The team of scientists were, led by Professor Bazbek Davletov, Chair of Biomedical Science, together with Research Associate Charlotte Leese from the University of Sheffield, formed a new method to rebuild Botox by utilizing elements of Clostridium botulinum and produced a biopharmaceutical with new properties, absent of any unwanted toxic effects.
The division of Botox into 2 separate parts, which was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), saw the team have the ability to create them in an optimal elongated configuration, followed by the placement of them back together.
Professor Davletov, of the University of Sheffield, School of Biosciences, says “Currently, painkillers can only relieve chronic pain temporarily and often have unwanted side effects.
“A single injection of the new nonparalytic blocker at the site of pain could potentially relieve pain for many months in humans and this now needs to be tested.
“We hope that the engineered drug could improve the quality of life for the millions of people world-wide who suffer from chronic pain.”
Scientists showed that the newly engineered neurotoxin is a non-paralyzing neuronal blocker in their preclinical joint research at the Universities of Sheffield, Reading and UCL.
The new technique could be a possible form of chronic pain relief that may last as long as a single Botox injection, possibly assisting as much as 20% of the population who are believed to be living in chronic pain.
