Botox can make fine lines fade, and it turns out these injections can also inject a little happiness too.
A recent news report shared that Botox can help those who suffer from depression. Yet another bullet point to add to the many ways Botox can be used.
According to the Washington Post, the Journal of Psychiatric Research recently shared a study conducted by Eric Finzi and Norman Rosenthal from the Georgetown Medical School.
The study showed that 17 of 33 patients experienced better than 50% reductions in their depression symptoms after a single Botox injection.
Results from the study showed that 27% of the group saw their depression go into remission. Investigators at the Hannover Medical School in Germany agree.
"Our emotions are expressed by facial muscles, which in turn send feedback signals to the brain to reinforce those emotions," explained study investigator Prof. Tillmann Kruger said at a press conference at the American Psychiatric Association's 2014 Annual Meeting.
"Treating facial muscles with botulinum toxin interrupts this cycle," he continued. "Botox may offer a novel, effective, well-accepted, and economic therapeutic tool for the treatment of major depression."
So what makes this treatment effective?
"There are several nerves, about 12 of them, that go straight into the brain through the skull," Rosenthal explained to the Washington Post.
"We're used to thinking of them in terms of their outbound messages or signals. We're not used to thinking of them in terms of their inbound messages."
So instead of just being a wrinkle filler, Botox is now being seen by some as a potential anti-depressant. Keep in mind however, that these injections can be pretty pricey, averaging a few hundred dollars per treatment.
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