WEDNESDAY, July 21, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- Add excessive sweating to the list of conditions stymied by the medical marvel known as Botox.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted its latest approval of the drug, derived from the same bacterium that causes deadly botulism, to treat primary axillary hyperhidrosis, a condition characterized by severe underarm sweating. Approval was granted to treat cases in which even prescription antiperspirants are ineffective, the agency said in a statement.
In clinical trials, 91 percent of users showed a 50 percent reduction in armpit sweating four weeks after being injected with the drug, compared to 36 percent of participants who had taken a non-medicinal placebo. The trials did not include tests to see if Botox controlled excessive sweating in other parts of the body, the agency said.
Botox was first approved in 1989 to treat two eye muscle disorders. The Allergan drug has since won the FDA's OK to treat a neurological disorder that causes severe neck muscle contractions, and as a cosmetic therapy to reduce frown lines between the eyebrows.
To learn more about Botox, visit the agency's online magazine called FDA Consumer.
