Botox, or botulinum toxin type A, is one of the world's deadliest poisons and is becoming one of the world's most popular cosmetic medicines, writes Laura Slattery.
Used in tiny doses, it can paralyse the facial muscles that make wrinkles and gives people the ability to frown. It can be injected into three areas on the face - around the crow's feet, the crease across the brow and the furrow between the eyes - and works as a kind of temporary face-lift.
Botox is manufactured for the global market by Allergan at their plant in Westport, Co Mayo.
Last year, with the help of some celebrity endorsements, the market increased by 35 per cent. Worldwide sales jumped to almost $310 million.
Botox has just won approval for cosmetic use by the US Food and Drug Administration, but is only licensed to treat certain medical conditions in Ireland and the UK, such as facial spasms in cerebral palsy patients.
It is not licensed here for cosmetic purposes, but registered medical practitioners can use the medicine on his or her patient if they think it will help them and provided they are insured. If anything does go wrong, the manufacturer is not to blame.
High-street chemists Boots has made Botox available at four of its stores in the UK for £200 sterling, but says it has no plans to introduce the service in Ireland. Boots says the treatments will be administered by trained doctors with at least one year's experience with Botox.
The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) has expressed concern about possible misuse of Botox, warning that its safety as a cosmetic treatment for wrinkles in beauty salons and cosmetic clinics has not been established. It says it will take appropriate action if a pharmacy or retail outlet attempts to supply Botox over the counter.
If Botox is administered by someone who is not a licensed medical practitioner, the IMB points out that they are contravening the Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control of Supply) Regulations, 1996. Any such business or individual is liable for prosecution under the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995.
Side effects include droopy eyelids, facial weakness and ulcers in the cornea of the eye. There have been reports of severe allergic reactions and on rare occasions the toxin has been associated with heart rhythm abnormalities and heart attacks, but these adverse reactions are more commonly associated with treatment for medical conditions than in the cosmetic industry, where smaller doses are used.
"I've been having Botox for eight years, and it doesn't give your face that stared look," says Ms Halina Ashdown-Shiels, managing director of Advanced Cosmetic Institute.
"Some people say it makes your face look like it's set in stone, but that's absolute rubbish. You won't end up with an expressionless look if it's administered correctly by a trained GP," she says.
Botox has become an "in thing" for younger people to have at the moment, according to Ms Patricia Molloy at Derma Laser Clinics, where botox treatments start at €250.
"I don't like to see people in their 20s doing botox, they don't need it. The average age would be around 35, when huge hormonal changes start to happen and the skin loses some of its elasticity," she says.
