A few months ago, a news story aired in regards to a mother giving her 8-year old daughter Botox injections. The interviewer started the interview by asking the mother the reason for this. To which she replied that her daughter was asking for the procedures in order to help her to perform well in her beauty pageants. The second I heard this story I was shocked! The ethical guidelines of a mother's treatment to her daughter were clearly being crossed in my opinion!! To be honest, I was disgusted with this mother even allowing her daughter to think that she had wrinkles and Botox was a necessity. The only thing this mother should have been telling her daughter was that she was beautiful exactly the way she was. During the interview, the girl was asked what the Botox injections felt like and she replied that sometimes they would hurt but she got used to it.
So I ask, am I alone in being utterly disgusted by this woman? Or is this what our society has come to, the increase of cosmetic surgery extending all the way to the still innocent young? To be able to fully examine this issue from an ethical standpoint, I think it beneficial to look into the physiological aspects and possible problems with Botox injections.
A Botox injection (OnabotulinumtoxinA) is simply an injection of Botulinum toxin, which is a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botox is neurotoxin which, when injected into a muscle, will act as an antagonist of Acetylcholine, preventing the release of Acetylcholine from the presynaptic vesicles. Since the Acetylcholine will not be released, it will not bind to its receptors on the sarcolemma of the muscle, thus ion channels will not open to create the end plate potential, and an action potential will not be created and propagated down the sarcolemma and into the t-tubules. Due to this, calcium will not be released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum so it can bind troponin, and tropomyosin will remain blocking the active site on actin from the myosin head, making a sliding filament contraction impossible. In short, the muscle will be paralyzed, and wrinkles will cease.
However, if something goes wrong during injection and this neurotoxin spreads to unintended muscles, serious issues can arise. Some of the symptoms of botulism can be seen such as difficulty breathing, swallowing, and speaking.
So is it worth it? I think not; at least not for the young children in our world who should have no issues with their body image. Also, on a lighter note, we don't want our children looking like the this little guy all the time!
Dhaked R, Singh M, Singh P, Gupta P. Botulinum toxin: Bioweapon & magic drug. Indian Journal Of Medical Research [serial online]. November 2010;132(5):489-503. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 6, 2011.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mom-year-daughter-botox-young-young/story?id=13580804#.TrdKTXI1REN
I think it is ridiculous that someone would use Botox, it is just used for cosmetic purposes and there is no medical reason to be using it. Putting poison into one’s body should only be done if it is for a medical reason, like chemotherapy. The idea of an 8 year old even having wrinkles is a ridiculous notion so there is absolutely no reason for this mother to be giving her daughter those Botox injections. On top of the health risks of difficulty breathing and swallowing, a significant complication is death. To put a completely unnecessary poison in an 8 year old’s body that has a possible side effect of death is bad parenting, not to mention borders on child abuse. I also agree with you that it is completely wrong for a an 8 year old to be that concerned about her looks, children should be happy with who they are, all children are beautiful and should not be made to think otherwise.
ReplyDeleteBotox in children for perceived cosmetic enhancement may not be a culturally acceptable practice, however, in today’s public conscious there seems to be a certain disregard for ethical reasoning when personal goals come into play. The United States perpetuates the individualistic model of capitalism where you make your own success in the “land of opportunity”. The trend of getting ahead means straddling the line between acceptable and distasteful. However, I do agree cosmetic enhancement of children seems distasteful but it does not generate my reaction of surprise. In regards Botox and its application for adolescents, I do believe there are a variety of medical applications for Botox in children. A basic search of botox and children in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health reveals medical relevancy for utilizing the neurotoxic affects for cerebral palsy and muscle spasms, both conditions that affect adolescents. Of more interest to me is the application of botulinum toxin type-A’s ability to reduce muscle activity by blocking the release of acetylcholine from the neuron through preventing the ACh vesicle from binding with presynaptic terminal membrane. In this case, a study at the University of Toronto suggests that there is significant evidence that Botox can be a medical therapy for chronic headaches and migraines in children and adolescents. Investigators showed that Botox reduced pain scores, improved quality-of-life, and decreased migraine/headache frequency for patients where other medications and alternative treatments failed. This could be significant if such treatment could prevent recurrence of these symptoms into adulthood because as reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics over 16% of adults suffer from severe migraines/headaches. Early treatment could prevent such debilitating occurrences and thus increase overall health.
ReplyDeleteBotox Treatment for Migraine and Chronic Daily Headache in Adolescents. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. 41(5):235-243, October 2009.
U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012 (131st Edition) Washington, DC, 2011; .
While Eric's comment does reveal the medical significance of using Botox in children to alleviate headaches and migraines, in the case that was originally presented no medical relevance for the injections exists. As mentioned in the first comment, an 8 year old has no need to use a Botox injection to improve her standings in pageants - older women use these injections to bring back the appearance of youth. How could an 8 year old already have lost her youthful appearance? Using this type of injection not only places the child in needless danger, but also sends her the message that she requires extreme measures to be beautiful enough. Botox and plastic surgery during adolescence is ridiculous enough to me. These kinds of procedures in such a young child are approaching both physical and emotional child abuse, which could potentially result in self-esteem and mental health issues during adolescence and beyond.
ReplyDeleteI agree and think that this is a completely ridiculous procedure for someone who is only 8 years old. I was trying to find a study to show when wrinkles generally begin forming. Unfortunately I did not find such data. However, I did find an article that related sun exposure to wrinkling.
ReplyDeleteIn our society, it seems pretty common knowledge that sun exposure is bad for your skin. Many studies have suggested that wrinkling is actually caused in part due to sun exposure causing a disorganization of the elastic fibers in the skin (Tsukahara, 2007). Although sensitivity to sunlight varies among individuals, I think it is safe to say that an 8 year old little girl has not incurred substantial sun damage yet.
I think that the issue lies in the extreme weight our society places on our outward appearances. Because we think we have to look perfect, we do crazy things to our bodies, like injecting them with neuro-toxins. I think it is very sad that this little girl is already so insecure about her appearance and even more sad that the mother did not do something to change her opinion.
Parents have a huge influence on the self-esteem of their children. Parents like “Botox Mom” teach their children that at a young age that their undeveloped bodies are already unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteOften these procedures are done to gain fifteen minutes of fame by desperate stage moms. But as noted, the risks of Botox injections are great – these parents are putting their children in danger for their own benefit. Also, these procedures are often reflective of self-esteem issues of the mothers; it’s likely that the mother injecting her daughter with Botox has issues with her own (likely wrinkled) skin.
I just saw on the AOL homepage that a second-grader is being placed in foster care; he weights over 200 pounds. Is it right that an obese child is taken from their parent from putting their life at risk, but a child purposefully injected with Botox is not?
For your enjoyment: a mother who has had over 50 cosmetic procedures herself (and thus has been dubbed “Human Barbie”) gives her 7-year-old daughter a voucher for breast augmentation when she turns 16. The girl’s reaction? "I can't wait to be like Mummy with big boobs. They're pretty." (Read the whole article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/09/human-barbie-boob-job-voucher_n_873705.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec3_lnk2|69748)