Botox, a drug derived from deadly bacteria, has proven to be something of a miracle drug. Originally discovered during the 1800s by a German doctor who was trying to solve the mystery of Germans dying after eating bad sausage, Botox is now considered a safe, mainstream medical treatment for a number of conditions typified by muscle spasms. Physicians have even explored Botox as a cure for spastic esophagus.
Spastic Esophagus
The esophagus is a muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach. After you swallow your food, the esophagus contracts to move the food into the stomach. Although gravity makes this process more comfortable, it is entirely unnecessary. Your esophagus is strong enough to move food into the stomach even when the eater is lying down or standing on her head, through a complex process involving carefully coordinated movements of three different sections of the esophageal muscle.
A spastic esophagus is a condition where the muscular motion of the esophagus is neither rhythmic nor coordinated; rather, the movement of a spastic esophagus is erratic and uncoordinated. On x-ray, the esophagus looks like a corkscrew or a string of beads instead of the smooth tube it should be.
Besides making swallowing difficult, the condition causes pain in the chest that can feel like a heart attack.
Is Botox Considered A Cure For Spastic Esophagus?
Patients are fortunate that Botox emerged to cure spastic esophagus, for the alternatives to Botox treatment are grim indeed. Patients may eat only soft and liquid foods, as solid foods are harder to pass through the esophagus than are soft foods. Patients who wish to eat a more varied diet can take an alphabet soup of drugs such as hydralazine, isoproterenol, nifedipine, and nitrates. For extreme cases, surgery was once the only answer, in a procedure where the muscles along the entire length of the esophagus are cut. Unfortunately, the success rate for this drastic surgery was only 66%.
As patients struggled to find relief with these limited treatments, researchers discovered Botox effectively treated a variety of medical conditions characterized by muscle spasms, such as crossed eyes, cerebral palsy, muscle spasms that cause neck and back pain, and uncontrollable facial tics and twitches. They began to wonder, could Botox be a cure for spastic esophagus?
When injected in very small quantities into muscles, Botox blocks the nerves that tell muscles when to contract, resulting in temporary paralysis. For some patients, Botox can be as effective as oral medication. Discuss whether Botox is a cure for spastic esophagus with your health care team; Botox may be right for you.
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