In our November 2010 Tuliv Times newsletter, I reported on the findings of our independent study on Botox that showed it had little or no effect on preventing migraines. Since then more than 35 different medical studies from around the world have confirmed our results and concluded that Botox is not effective for migraines.
Recently, new data was collected in a collaborative study between researchers in the U.S. and Japan that found "Botox is largely ineffective as a treatment for chronic migraines." According to the report released last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "chronic migraine sufferers saw only a slight dip in frequency when using the drug."
Lead researcher Dr. Jeffrey Jackson from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and his team reviewed 27 different studies including over 27,000 migraine patients. For those suffering daily headaches, Botox reduced frequency by one to two days a month or about a 5% success rate. Those with less frequent migraines saw no appreciable change.
A similar study by the American Academy of Neurology showed that Botox did little or nothing to help those with migraines. According to the study's author, "Based on currently available data, botulinum toxin (Botox) injections should not be offered to patients with episodic migraine and chronic tension-type headaches," said Dr. Markus Naumann, head of the Department of Neurology at Augsburg Hospital in Germany. "It is no better than placebo injections for these types of headache."
Since Botox has now been shown to basically do nothing for migraines, why do some doctors continue to recommend it and patients still try it? Most patients are not aware of the fact that Botox will do virtually nothing for their migraines and high dollar marketing by the manufacturer to both doctors and patients may account for the perceived popularity of Botox. (Let's face it, Botox for migraines has been very profitable for the maker as well as the medical professionals who inject it).
At Tuliv, we continually measure the performance of our migraine prevention product Tuliv Migraine Defense as well as supplements that go along with it. Based on this, we have developed an easy nine point personal assessment to help predict a person's success with Migraine Defense. Please see Migraine Appraisal.
