FDA Approves Botox for Overactive Bladder
The FDA announced this week that Botox has been approved to treat adults with urinary incontinence or urinary frequency who cannot use or are who are unresponsive to anticholinergic therapy. An estimated 33 million people in the US are believed to be affected by an overactive bladder.
Botox is a drug made from a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The drug causes botulism and has been used by physicians in small doses to treat facial wrinkles, severe underarm sweating and cervical dystonia, among other conditions.
Botox works by weakening or paralyzing certain muscles. In patients with an overactive bladder, the drug will be injected cystoscopically, causing the bladder musculature to relax, increasing the bladder's storage capacity, and reducing episodes of urinary incontinence.
Read more about the approval here.
