I watch trash

I just finished watching the "Real housewives of Orange County." Daniel humorously stated that it's kind of like porn. For about an hour we watched a bunch of over indulged middle aged women act like teenagers, getting drunk and throwing their artificial body parts around. People in LA refuse to grow up.

After watching one of them get botox injections, I decided to look up something I had heard a long time ago--that it's some kind of virus. Well, not exactly, but here's what I found.

You can read the clip below from howstuffworks.com. I'm definitely not a science person so bear with me. From what I can tell it's a neurotoxin. In other words, it's a substance that blocks the neurotransmitters that tell you muscles to move. That's why it only works on wrinkles caused by muscle movements--brow lines and smile lines, not on wrinkles caused by aging. It's basically a poison that causes the muscles in your face to freeze. It seems a little primitive to me--like drinking snake venom or something.


What is Botox?Botox® is a trade name for botulinum toxin A. In this way, Botox® is related to botulism. Botulism is a form of food poisoning that occurs when someone eats something containing a neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulinum toxin A is one of the neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum.
The most serious symptom of botulism is paralysis, which in some cases has proven to be fatal. The botulinum toxins (there are seven -- types are A through G) attach themselves to nerve endings. Once this happens, acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter responsible for triggering muscle contractions, cannot be released. A series of proteins, VAMP, syntaxin and SNAP-25, are essential for the release of acetylcholine. Certain botulinum toxins attack these proteins. Botulinum toxin A (Botox) affects the SNAP-25.
Basically, the botulinum toxins block the signals that would normally tell your muscles to contract. Say, for example, it attacks the muscles in your chest -- this could have a profound impact on your breathing. When people die from botulism, this is often the cause -- the respiratory muscles are paralyzed so it’s impossible to breathe