If the irritating or downright distressing effects of hay fever are a regular wrinkle in your life, you may soon be able to throw away your tissues, tablets and nasal sprays.
Botox allergy trial
Botox is being trialled in a world-first Australian study to treat the allergy-related malaise after it showed promise in providing relief in early trials.
Applied in a gel form, the botulinum toxin better known for its wrinkle-busting properties is said to act on the nerves in the nose and potentially block some of the chemicals released by the nerve endings, which play a large role in triggering hay fever symptoms such as chronic sneezing, nose-blowing and itchy and watering eyes.
Professor Philip Bardin, director of Sleep and Respiratory Medicine at Monash Medical Centre – linked to Melbourne’s Monash University – said Botox was already widely used in medicine to reduce spasms in muscles following strokes and in treating cerebral palsy.
`This is very new way to use an old medication,’ he said. `Part of why this is possible is that the Botox molecule has been re-engineered to be able to penetrate through the skin but also through the lining of the nose.
`That’s really the crucial development that has taken place. So consequently it is going to be possible in the future to extend its use from being mostly a cosmetic product to become possibly even more useful.’
Professor Bardin said Botox had also proved effective as a treatment for severe asthmatics.
`We’ve had very promising results using Botox as a treatment for severe asthmatics, and it is possible this new gel could give hay fever sufferers relief from symptoms for an extended period of time,’ he said.
`We hope this world-first trial will be the first step towards relief for millions of Australians and millions worldwide.’
In early trials the Botox gel was seen to provide relief for up to three months.
Botox, which makes muscles relax, is a purified form of a nerve poison produced by bacteria that causes a disease that paralyses muscles and can be fatal.
It was first used to treat disorders of the eye muscle – uncontrollable blinking and misaligned eyes. Cosmetic use took off in the 1990s after a Canadian ophthalmologist noticed her patients were losing their frown lines after using the medication.
