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Some of the obese are looking to botox shots for easy weight loss -- but now it is clear that they don't, according to a definitive study.
Injecting botulinum toxin A (BTA), or Botox, into the stomach had been believed to delay emptying of the stomach, increase feelings of fullness and reduce body weight.
Researchers enrolled 60 obese patients in a 24-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to compare the effects of BTA to placebo (sugar coated pills).
They found that the injection slowed movement of food through the stomach but it did not cause weight loss, the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology reports.
"On the basis of our findings, I would not recommend gastric Botox injections to people who want to lose weight," said Mark Topazian, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, who led the study.
"There are some risks with this treatment and we found that there was no benefit in terms of body weight loss."
"Unless future studies show different results, I'd advise patients to seek other means of achieving weight loss," added Topazian, according to a Mayo statement.
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