Botox and Leaky Bladders

A piece of medical news that unites two previously unconnected topics is irresistible to me. That's why I am compelled to blog about the Food and Drug Administration's approval today of Botox as a treatment for leaky bladders.

This isn't the first unexpected twist in the medical history of Botox, which is actually a powerful neurotoxin – in other words, poison. Botox's original therapeutic use two decades ago was to treat crossed eyes. Since then, the FDA has also approved using it for certain kinds of muscle problems, severe underarm sweating, and eyelid twitching.

Today, of course, most of us know Botox as a major food group for The Real Housewives.

In its latest medical incarnation, Botox can now be used to treat incontinence in patients who have multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury. This is a serious and even debilitating problem for these patients so the FDA approval is good news.

But it is a nice irony that the same stuff we inject in our frown lines to ward off the effects of aging could make a huge difference in someone else's bladder.