🚨 Your brain on Botox: What the New Science Is Telling Us

Jun 2
4 min read

Hi out there, I'm Gretch Elizabeth. I am a patient advocate for Botox injury. I work full-time as support group Admin, and education lead for Tox Safety. I also run our Never Tox pages on social media.

I'm here to tell you why you should never inject the most lethal neurotoxin known to man into your body: Botulinum toxin A, better known as Botox.

I help run a support group of over 35,000 people who have suffered life-threatening or debilitating systemic toxicity after Botox exposure. What I'm sharing with you today is something our team has waited years to talk about publicly. If you only share one thing from the Never Tox page, let it be this.

We Knew Something Was Wrong. Now Science Has Caught Up.

Anecdotally, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. We’ve seen the patterns. We’ve heard the stories. But now, science has started to validate what so many of us already knew deep down.

Before sharing this study, our Admin team and I took our time. We sat with it for months. We consulted, confirmed, and clarified this information to be absolutely certain, that what we were reading was real, and it was serious.

So if anyone doubts this information, reach out. We’ll walk you through it.

Botox Travels to the Brain. This Is No Longer Debatable.

Let’s be clear: Since 2008, it’s been known that Botulinum toxin A can travel past the peripheral nervous system, (PNS) and into the central nervous system, (CNS) meaning your brain and spinal cord.

This is no longer up for debate.And once it’s in the CNS, the damage it causes can be profound.

Botox blocks acetylcholine, a critical neurotransmitter that allows your muscles to function. But it also disrupts neurotransmission in the brain, impairing memory, cognition, and neural communication.

The Amplifying Effect: Why One Molecule Can Do So Much Harm

Here’s the kicker. One unit of Botox contains around 20 million molecules. Each one has the potential to enter your CNS. And even a single molecule can do devastating damage.

Why? Because it’s enzymatic, meaning one molecule can cleave SNAP-25 over and over again, silencing neuron after neuron. This is what the study refers to as a "considerable amplifying effect."

And here's the most terrifying part. We don’t know how many neurons will be affected, how long this will last, or who is most vulnerable.

The Study That Changes Everything

A groundbreaking study titled "Botulinum Neurotoxin Induces Neurotoxic Microglia Mediated by Exogenous Inflammatory Responses" examined how repeated Botox exposure affects the CNS. It used a 3D human neuron-glia co-culture model to mimic real human brain environments.

What the researchers found is deeply alarming:

Key Findings:

Acetylcholine Depletion: BoNT/A severely reduces ACh release from neurons.
Astrocyte Activation: The drop in ACh causes astrocytes to become reactive, releasing TGF-β and GFAP.
Complement Cascade: These reactive astrocytes ramp up complement proteins C1q, C3, and C5 — setting off an inflammatory immune response.
Microglial Activation: This attracts microglia (the brain’s immune cells), which become proinflammatory, releasing toxic cytokines like IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-8.
Neurodegeneration: These inflammatory processes trigger synaptic loss, tau protein buildup, and neuron death, all signs seen in conditions like Alzheimer’s, ALS, and Huntington’s disease.

Could Botox Trigger Alzheimer’s?

This isn’t fear-mongering. It’s peer-reviewed science. And if you’ve ever wondered whether Botox could be a contributing factor to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, or ALS, the answer is no longer unthinkable.

What we now know is this:

Botox does reach the brain.
It disrupts critical brain function.
It may initiate processes linked to irreversible neurodegeneration.

So I ask you, is it worth it? Is it worth the risk for smooth skin now, when the cost might be your cognitive future?

Please, share this. Not for clicks. Not for drama. But because someone out there, someone you know, deserves to make an informed choice before it’s too late.

We’ve seen the consequences. Now science has spoken.

**This document is DMCA protected and is not to be copied, reproduced, or distributed in whole or in parts without written permission. It is the property of Tox Safety and the Botox Dysport Side Effects Support Group.**

References:

Ambrin G, Kang YJ, Van Do K, Lee C, Singh BR, Cho H. Botulinum Neurotoxin Induces Neurotoxic Microglia Mediated by Exogenous Inflammatory Responses. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Apr;11(15):e2305326. doi: 10.1002/advs.202305326. Epub 2024 Feb 11. PMID: 38342616; PMCID: PMC11022717.

Ovsepian SV, O'Leary VB, Ntziachristos V, Dolly JO. Circumventing Brain Barriers: Nanovehicles for Retroaxonal Therapeutic Delivery. Trends Mol Med. 2016 Nov;22(11):983-993. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2016.09.004. Epub 2016 Oct 5. PMID: 27720365.

Restani L, Antonucci F, Gianfranceschi L, Rossi C, Rossetto O, Caleo M. Evidence for anterograde transport and transcytosis of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A). J Neurosci. 2011 Nov 2;31(44):15650-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2618-11.2011. PMID: 22049408; PMCID: PMC6623022.

Caleo M, Restani L. Direct central nervous system effects of botulinum neurotoxin. Toxicon. 2018 June 1;147:68-72. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.10.027. Epub 2017 Oct 31. PMID: 29111119.

Bomba-Warczak E, Vevea JD, Brittain JM, Figueroa-Bernier A, Tepp WH, Johnson EA, Yeh FL, Chapman ER. Interneuronal Transfer and Distal Action of Tetanus Toxin and Botulinum Neurotoxins A and D in Central Neurons. Cell Rep. 2016 Aug 16;16(7):1974-87. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.06.104. Epub 2016 Aug 4. PMID: 27498860; PMCID: PMC4988880.

Luvisetto S. Botulinum Neurotoxins in Central Nervous System: An Overview from Animal Models to Human Therapy. Toxins (Basel). 2021 Oct 22;13(11):751. doi: 10.3390/toxins13110751. PMID: 34822535; PMCID: PMC8622321.

Joensuu M, Syed P, Saber SH, Lanoue V, Wallis TP, Rae J, Blum A, Gormal RS, Small C, Sanders S, Jiang A, Mahrhold S, Krez N, Cousin MA, Cooper-White R, Cooper-White JJ, Collins BM, Parton RG, Balistreri G, Rummel A, Meunier FA. Presynaptic targeting of botulinum neurotoxin type A requires a tripartite PSG-Syt1-SV2 plasma membrane nanocluster for synaptic vesicle entry. EMBO J. 2023 Jul 3;42(13):e112095. doi: 10.15252/embj.2022112095. Epub 2023 May 25. PMID: 37226896; PMCID: PMC10308369.