Botulinum toxin has been used to reduce facial wrinkles by preventing contraction of muscles beneath the skin and for medical conditions, such as eyelid spasms and severe headaches.

Botox injections are noted primarily for the ability to reduce the appearance of facial wrinkles. They’re also used to treat conditions such as neck spasms (cervical dystonia), excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis), an overactive bladder and lazy eye. Botox injections may also help prevent chronic migraines.

Botulinum toxin is used to treat certain eye disorders such as crossed eyes (strabismus) and uncontrolled blinking (blepharospasm), to treat muscle stiffness/spasms or movement disorders (such as cervical dystonia, torticollis), and to reduce the cosmetic appearance of wrinkles.

Botulism is caused by a toxin that attacks the body’s nerves and causes difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis, and even death. Doctors treat botulism with a drug called an antitoxin, which prevents the toxin from causing any more harm. Antitoxin does not heal the damage the toxin has already done.

Botulism can result in death from respiratory failure. In the past 50 years, the rate of death from botulism has fallen significantly. Unfortunately, a patient with severe botulism may require not only a breathing machine for ventilation but also intensive medical and nursing care for several months to survive.

The earliest symptoms involve the eyes and face, because nerves controlling their function are affected most quickly by the botulism toxin. Early or mild symptoms, which may go away on their own, include: Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea (not usually present in wound botulism)

Raw honey can contain spores of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. This bacteria is especially harmful to babies or children under the age of one. It may cause botulism poisoning, which results in life-threatening paralysis ( 26 , 27 ). However, botulism is very rare among healthy adults and older children.

Infant botulism has been associated with raw honey. Avoid giving raw honey — even a tiny taste — to babies under age 1. Home-canned food can also become contaminated with C. botulinum spores.

Baked Goods Made With Honey Even the high temperatures of cooking and baking will not destroy the botulism spores. 3 For this reason, you shouldn’t give your baby baked goods or cooked foods containing honey either.

Schantz and Johnson begin by placing some Clostridium botulinum cells into a blend of dextrose, digested milk protein, and brewer’s yeast extract. Since the bacteria aren’t competing with any other microorganisms, they can multiply quickly, turning the medium a cloudy brown in 18 to 24 hours.

The onset of botulism is usually 18 to 36 hours after eating the contaminated food, although it can be as soon as four hours and as long as eight days.