14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study investigating the benefits from Botulinum Toxin, commonly known as botox, has found that the substance mainly used for cosmetic purposes may be very beneficial in treating severe knee pain in osteoarthritis patients. Therefore, injections with botulinum toxin type A are not only effective against wrinkles by 'ironing them out', it can also be used as a painkiller to curb chronic pain and improve function in individuals who suffer from osteoarthritis.
The study has been carried out by a team of researchers at the Minneapolis Veteran's Affairs Medical Center and their findings have been recently presented at the American College of Rheumatology meeting. Considering botox as a potential analgesic against painful spasticity, for instance, Minneapolis VA Medical Center scientists set out for testing how the wrinkle-reducing substance actually works against unbearable osteoarthritis pain. Leader of the research Maren Mahowald, M.D., stated that "an independent analgesic effect of botulinum toxin" has been identified after the study ended, as botox reduced by 50% or more severe pain in 10 out of 15 subjects with the terrible condition.
The research was conducted on 37 subjects who suffered from moderate and severe knee osteoarthritis. They were divided into 2 groups - those in one group (the treatment group) were injected 100 units of Botox together with lidocaine anesthetic into the knee, while participants in the other group (the control group) received a placebo also combined with lidocaine. Tests taken after one month showed that a 28% decrease in severe pain and 25% improvement in function were registered in individuals in the treatment group, as compared to no significant reduction in pain or improvement in function in the control group.
However, no obvious analgesic effects of botox were noticed in subjects with moderate pain in the control group. But researchers explained that sometimes it takes longer for a painkiller to become effective, therefore, knee osteoarthritis patients with moderate pain should wait for benefits from botox. Maren Mahowald stated: "Patients often have continued decreases in pain and improvements in function after one to two months. And I think there will be more improvements at the three-month evaluation."
Scientists must wait for final and overall results of the study in order to draw a conclusion, but the research so far shows promises for a new type of non-toxic analgesic which is not going to have too many side effects. Commenting on the Minneapolis VA Medical Center which is still in progress, Robert Wortmann, M.D., of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa stated that it is "one of the most provocative things that have come down the pike for the treatment of osteoarthritis in a long time. The possibility of having something that's non-toxic and would really alter the symptomology of a disease that is not curable would be fantastic."