Botox gets OK to treat underarm sweating

There are some side effects, but they aren't permanent.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- Botox, the drug made famous by millions of unwrinkled brows, won the government's OK Tuesday to tackle another of the body's flaws: sweaty armpits.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the therapeutic use of Botox to treat severe underarm sweating, said Caroline Van Hove, senior manager of corporate communications for Allergan Inc., the maker of Botox.
Currently, 1.3 million Americans suffer from a severe sweat gland malady that produces four to five times normal sweating, according to Van Hove. Now, she said, they can get relief from an injection of Botox directly into their sweat glands. The treatment costs $750.
Pre-Botox treatment
Until now, treatment included surgery, the application of a powerful topical antiperspirant and salt-water injections, said Dr. Dee Anna Glaser, vice chairman and associate professor at St. Louis University Medical School's Department of Dermatology.
Van Hove described the side effects of the Botox treatment as "temporary and mild in nature," but may include allergic reactions, neck or back pain and anxiety.
The FDA first approved Botox in December 1989 to treat two eye muscle disorders, blepharospasm and strabismus. It was then approved to treat cervical dystonia, a neurological movement disorder causing severe neck and shoulder muscle contractions and in 2002 as Botox Cosmetic to temporarily erase frown lines between the eyebrows in patients between 18 and 65 years of age.
Botox paralyzes the sweat gland by blocking the nerve that stimulates sweat, Van Hove said.
Glaser said she has been treating severe underarm sweat for 15 years and has been using Botox as a treatment for at least seven years. The recent FDA approval means Allergan can advertise the product.
Dr. Mitchell Brin, senior vice president of development for Botox and Neurology at Allergan, described the approval as "another milestone in the history of Botox."
Not covered
Insurance companies do not cover the use of Botox for this condition, because it's a new treatment. But the company considers the ailment -- severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis -- a "serious medical condition," so Allergan offers financial incentives for people who cannot afford Botox injections, Van Hove said.
Botox critic Charles Inlander, president of the People's Medical Society, an Allentown, Pa., advocacy group, dismissed the new treatment as a milestone only in the "lifestyle boutique use of medicines."
"What are we as a society if we have to create an injection to make people stop sweating," Inlander asked. "Now, going to the doctor is like going to the beauty parlor."