THE PONCHATOULA TIMES, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010, PAGE 8
Health
The latest wrinkles in
Botox injections
By DR. RANDOLPH-HOWES M.D., PhD
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Longtime medical columnist for The Ponchatoula Times, the
author is an accomplished surgeon, medical inventor, and Country music recording
artist. Dr. Howes grew up on his parents' Ponchatoula strawberry farm. He is a
graduate of St. Joseph, Ponchatoula High School, Tulane - two doctorates, followed
by a residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in plastic surgery. He says he is "re-
tired" now in Kentwood.)
One of the most toxic substances known to man is a poison that
goes by the commercial name, "BOTOX® (Botox)" and it is pro-
duced by drug maker, Allergan.
In 2003, over 2.6 million
women and 330,000 men had
Botox injections. Botox blocks
the connections between nerves
and muscle, temporarily para-
lyzing muscles that cause wrin-
kles as well as certain types of
spasms.
The drug is a purified form of
botulinum toxin.
Botox was introduced in 19"89
and has become famous for its
ability to temporarily smooth
frown lines on foreheads and
faces but it is also approved by
the FDA to treat neck spasms,
eye muscle disorders and exces-
sive underarm sweating.
In 2009, Botox won approval
to treat spasms in the elbows,
wrists and fingers. But, a much
bigger area of use is in so-called
"off-label" conditions, such as ce-
rebral palsy in children as well
as in adults.
Approval is being sought for
the use of Botox for children
with neuromuscular disorders
and the American Academy of
Neurology has endorsed Bo-
tox as an "effective and gener-
ally safe treatment" for children
with cerebral palsy.
Botox sales topped $1.3 bil-
lion in 2009. However, Altergan
has just been ordered to pay
$600 million to settle a long fed-
eral investigation into its mar-
keting practices and they will
plead guilty to one misdemean-
or charge of "misbranding," in
which the company's marketing,
led physicians to use Botox for
%
Dr. Howes
unapproved uses to treat such
.conditions as headache, pain
and spasticity.
FDA's rules are designed to
stop companies from promoting
drugs for unapproved or "off-
label" uses that haven't been
federally confirmed as safe and
effective.
According to Assistant Attor-
ney General Tony West, Aller-
gun "paid kickbacks to induce
physicians to inject Botox for
off-label uses and Allergan also
taught doctors how to bill for
off-label uses, including coach-
ing doctors how to miscode Bo-
tox claims leading to millions of
dollars of false claims being to
submitted to federal and state
programs."
Here is the real shocker: in
2009, over 12,000 teenagers (as
young as 12) got Botox injections
to look younger! This may be go-
ing too far because BOTOX
Cosmetic may cause serious side
effects that can be life threaten-
ing including: problems swal-
lowing, speaking or breathing
due to weakening of associated
muscles or spread of the toxin
beyond the injection site (double
vision or drooping eyelids).
In the America that I love,
we realize that it is a no-brainer
that a highly toxic poison may
be dangerous or can cause se-
rious effects, especially if used
by unqualified people. Staying
"young" may have a greater cost
to your health than just mon-
ey. Allergan has gone to great
unethical lengths to sell more
product. So, be careful and be
safe.
I
• Dudek
Baton Rouge Tiger fans, oh
well, at least we still have the
Saints to cheer for...Who Dat!
Around the rest of the coun-
try, a sense of normalcy is re-
turning to college football: he
defending champion Alabama
Crimson Tide won their opener,
48-3 over San Jose State. The
three major schools in Flori-
da all won big, starting with
the Tim Tebow-less Gators
beating Miami of Ohio 34-12.
The 13th ranked Miami Hurri-
canes destroyed "cupcake" Flor-
ida A&M 45-0, while the 20 th-
ranked Florida State Seminoles
began "life after Bobby Bowden"
by trouncing Samford, 59-6.
In other notable season open-
ers, the Southeastern Lions
came up just short in upsetting
Tulane, falling 27-21 against
their in-state rivals. The Okla-
homa Sooners found out what
life is gonna be like with No.
1 overall draft pick Sam Brad-
ford now playing on Sundays,
as the team struggled to squeak
by underdog Utah State 31-24.
The Jacksonville State Game-
cocks provided the season's first
upset by shocking the Ole Miss
Rebels 49-48 in double overtime.
Finally, the "mighty ducks" of
Oregon University gave us our
first blowout of the 2010 college
football season by dismantling
FROM PAGE 2
the New Mexico Lobes 72-0.
After one week of games, it al-
ready looks like this is going to
be one great season to be a fan
of college football. And just like
I did last week with the-NFL,
I'm going to tell you how it's all
going to turn out . I'll be picking
my top-5 finalists for the cov-
eted Heisman trophy, and tell
you what teams will be playing
in the major BCS bowl games,
including the two teams that
will be playing in the Nation-
al Championship game. But,
you're gonna have to wait for
next week's column for all that.
See you next week.
• Truck
FROM PAGE 7
the rearview camera that shows
not only the blind spots but fo-
cuses on the trailer hitch ball as
well."
When you have six wheels
that sport this kind of heft,
eventually everyone you know
will be your best friend on their
moving day.
The Chrysler Group has en-
couraged the Dodge team to
build a truck, the Ram 3500
Laramie Crew Cab, that sets
the bar for the heavy duty truck
market and I've been lucky to
drive it. I'm just glad "all" my
friends didn't find out about this
week's test drive.
Flying to Middendorf's
Flying in style from Houma are (left to right) Jackie,
Richard, Katie and pilot Jon Gonsoulin. Jon, president of
LeBeouf Bros. Towing L.L.C. flew his family in for a eve-
ning meal at Middendorf's at Pass Manchac this past Labor
Day weekend. (Times Photo by Chris O'Connor)
The Octavians embark on
their 4th Season
The Octavians will be starting workshops soon. Workshops in-
clude Acting, Costume Design, Improv!, Movement, and Make-Up
for the Stage. Space is limited and open to ages seven and up.
Visit www.theoctavians.com co register online. Fee includes a
full year of workshops, productions, outreach events and more!
Friar Tuck (Chris Lilly)
and Robin HoOd (Caleb Holloway)
Merry Men
Trouble at camp
TPSO Report
ROBERT - Tangipahoa Par-
ish Sheriff Daniel Edwards re-
ports the following:
Cory Allison, 24 of Denham
Springs, LA was arrested on
September 5, 2010, after caus-
ing a disturbance and refus-
ing to leave Yogi Bear Camp
Grounds.
Deputies responded to Alli-
son's cabin several times during
the evening due to several re-
ports of disturbances which oc-
curred in the cabin/apartment
area. Each time, deputies spoke
with Allison's family members
regarding the incidents. The
last time deputies responded to
Allison's cabin, they observed
Allison causing disruption at
the camp ground.
Upon seeing deputies, Alli-
son began laughing. Deputies
instructed Allison not to move,
however at this time, he fled or:,,
foot and jumped a near by fence
to elude deputies. Within mo-
ments, deputies located Allison.
Allison was asked to leave the,
premises numerous times by -
deputies. He did not comply.
Allison continued to be dis-
ruptive causing another dis-
turbance. During this incident,
a crowd gathered in the camp
ground. Allison was non-stop
yelling at the crowed asking
for assistance from his family
members. As deputies attempt-
ed" to manage crowd control,
Allison was taken into custody
and transported to the parish
jail where he was booked and
chaxged with remaining on
premises, two counts of resist-
ing arrest and inciting a riot.
LSUHSC
pediatric
weight expert
provides
obesity
answers
ultimately provide the optimal
fetal environment for the next
generation of metabolically pro-
grammed newborns."
Dr. Sothern believes that ef-
forts should focus on the three
opportunities for change.
NEW ORLEANS, LA - In a
first person paper published in
the premier issue of Childhood
Obesity, Dr. Melinda Sothern,
Director of Health Promotion
and Professor of Public Health
at LSU Health Sciences Center
New Orleans, provides three
ways to de-program the 1950s
obesity trinity underlying the
current obesity epidemic in the
United States and protect fu-
ture generations from its health
consequences.
"The combination of prenatal
tobacco use, infant formula, and
frequent pregnancies
i.e., the obesity trinity--
synergistically created the
first generation of nutritionally
programmed youth, the baby-
boomers," writes Dr. Sothern.
"Suburban living, value-priced
fast food, cable
TV, and computers sealed
their fate. Now in their 50s and
60s, this generation has the
highest prevalence of obesity
in history, triple that of their
parents. Of more concern are
their obese children, many pro-
grammed due to maternal obe-
sity and gestational diabetes"
Dr. Sothern is most concerned
about the vulnerability of the
grandchildren of baby-boomers.
"These are the preschoolers
with significant obesity, the
6-12-year-olds with metabolic
syndrome and the obese adoles-
cents with hypertension, type 2
diabetes or non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease, so resistant to
treatment that the only solution
may be bariatric surgery," notes
Dr. Sothern. "More alarming
are the severely obese, insulin-
resistant teenage girls who will
I
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