Botox for Weight loss – New Research with Promising Results

It seems like the medical community is not through with gauging the extent of Botox usefulness. Every now and then some research surfaces with new beneficial use of Botox for human health! This time around researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology have derived experimental results using Botox as a tool for causing weight loss in rats. Based on the test results the Norwegian researchers hope to gain approval for human testing soon.

Botox has earned its fame and reputation first and foremost by being an effective solution for alleviation of facial wrinkles. Now a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) named Helene Johannessen is conducting in-depth research about the possibility of using Botox as an alternative to treating morbid obesity. If successful this could revolutionize obesity treatment methods by replacing costly and not so safe operations and medications.

The tests carried out on rats have yielded positive results. The test entailed injecting rats in the vagus nerve found in the stomach which caused weight loss. When injected with Botox, the rats displayed reduced appetite and consumed less which resulted in significant loss of body weight 20-30 percent over the course of five weeks. Botox when administered through injection directly to the vagus nerve paralyzes it. Vagus never is responsible for triggering sense of hunger and regulates the circulation of food through intestines. When Vagus nerve is paralyzed it paralyzes muscles in the stomach, which slows down the circulation of food through the stomach. This discovery could one day pave the way for treatments which cause people to feel fuller for longer periods of time. 

The silver lining yielded by the research is that Botox treatment could be developed as an alternative to gastric bypass surgery. Johannessen and her research group are comprised of a larger collective which dabbles in Experimental Surgery and Pharmacology. The main objective of this group is to explore alternatives for gastric bypass surgery. The entire operation is a part of a European Union project called Full4health. Johannessen in an interview with Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) expressed her team’s willingness to conduct the first human clinical trials of this treatment as soon as they get approval from Norwegian medical ethics authorities. 

"As a start, we will be inviting patients who are candidates for obesity operations but who, for one reason or another, cannot undergo one,"  said Johannessen.