In a study by University of Rochester, the cosmetic procedure, Botox which is known for reducing facial wrinkles, may also prevent irregular heart rhythms when injected into fats surrounding the heart after bypass surgery.
According to Indian Express, Clostridium Botulinum bacteria produce a Botulinum toxin. When the muscle was injected with a small amount of Botox, nerve signals were blocks which tell muscles to contract according to senior study author Jonathan S. Steinberg, professor of medicine at the University of Rochester and also director of the Arrhythmia Institute in the Valley Health System in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Irregular heartbeat, also known as Atrial fibrillation (AFib or AF), can lead to stroke, heart failure, blood clothing and other heart-related complications.According to Steinberg about a third of all patients undergone a bypass surgery, they develop atrial fibrillation placing patients at higher risk for cardiovascular complications. He also added that Atrial fibrillation is associated with prolonged hospitalization and that means increased healthcare costs.
As reported in Youth Health Mag, the researchers in two Russian hospitals randomly assigned 60 patients to receive saline and Botox injection. In 30 days after surgery, patients who received saline had a 30 percent chance of developing AF compared to seven percent chance in patients who received Botox.
According to UPI, one year after the surgery, 27 percent of the patients who received saline had AF, while none of the patients who received Botox develop AF. There was no reported problem regarding complications from the Botox injections. In other hand complications from the bypass surgery were similar in both groups.
Steinberg in a statement says the in the near future, Botox injections could become the standard of care for valve patients and heart bypass, but they are not quite there yet. However, this study and its results were published in the American Heart Association Journal Circulation.
