Injections of botulinum toxin would show an effectiveness not only to fill wrinkles but also to treat depression.
Numerous scientific studies have shown that positive effects on mood have been observed in patients treated with botox for frown lines in the area above the nose and between the eyebrows.
To confirm these findings, Dr. Kruger Axel Wollmer and his colleagues at the Asklepios Nord Ochsenzoll Clinic in Hamburg, Germany, conducted research and established a protocol on injecting Botox as a complementary treatment for major depression.
Scientists treated with Botox 30 patients with high levels of chronic and resistant depression. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either a single injection of Botox or a single injection of placebo (a fake saline treatment).
Botox reduces symptoms of depression
Six weeks after this treatment, the group of participants botoxshowed an average reduction of depression symptoms of 47.1% compared to a decrease of 9.2% for the group of participants treated with placebo.
“Botox may offer an effective, well-accepted, and cost-effective therapeutic tool for the treatment of major depression,” explains Mr. Kruger Axel Wollmer of the Asklepios Nord Ochsenzoll Clinic in Hamburg, Germany.
“The results of this study which were presented at a medical conference are interesting but are only preliminary. They must be validated by outside medical experts to be published in a medical journal. In addition, we need to conduct clinical studies on a larger number of patients to validate these conclusions. It is important to continue this research to find new treatments to treat the Depressiona real public health problem,” recalls Jeffrey Borenstein, MD, president and CEO of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation in New York.