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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Wrinkle Fillers

Aired November 21, 2003 - 08:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Move over Botox, government regulators are considering approval of a new generation of wrinkle fillers.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with the cosmetic details.

Good morning to you, Sanjay.

How does this compare to the more famous product, Botox?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it works in a very different way. But it could be a good alternative. Plastic surgeons not quite ready to call this revolutionary, but at a minimum, it's a very big deal. We're talking about restylane and hylaform. I'm going to tell you what they are. But also mention that today, the FDA panel is getting together today to determine whether or not it should be approved in the United States. It's already been around in Europe and Canada for about eight years now, and has a pretty good track record out there.

First of all, restalyne and hylaform, what are they? They are basically these two substances that are made from a naturally occurring acid know as hylaronic acid. That acid is produced naturally in the body. It's injected just below the skin's surface. Its goal is to basically plump up the skin. That's a little different than the way Botox works. As you know, Soledad, because it actually relaxes the skin, or paralyzes the skin. If this FDA panel actually recommends approval, it could be approved as early as January, offering yet another alternative for the treatment of wrinkles -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, any risks to these procedures?

GUPTA: Yes. I think there's risks always to these procedures. The risk to this particular procedure a little different than Botox. For about seven days after the procedure, people may have complaints of redness, swelling, things like that around the actual injection site.

Bigger concern really is something, sort of these lumps under the skin. You're injecting this gelatin sort of acid underneath the skin. Sometimes if injected too much, you could actually develop these lumps under the skin, not a very cosmetically pleasing look. It lasts about six months, which is different than Botox which lasts two to three months. So if you do get these lumps you're going to be stuck with those for some time. Let me say as well, Soledad, your question about them working a little bit differently. If you think about it like this, one of the plastic surgeons we talked to thinks about the three r's of treating wrinkles. Botox sends to relax. That's the first 'r. ' If you talk about refilling now, if you're talking about restylane and hylaform, if neither one of those relatively minimally invasive procedures work, then you can reshape, and that's actually with the facelift or other surgical procedure. So sort of think of the three r's. The outcome may be the same, but the process by which you get there very different in those three -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: How about the cost? How does the cost compare, Sanjay?

GUPTA: The cost is still going to be somewhat expensive, obviously not approved by insurance. Several hundred dollars for a single injection that could last six months. Sometimes doctors are going to recommend more than one injection as well. It's going to defend on how deep the folds are, how significant the folds are. And of course, every six months or so, you're going to need to keep doing this. So several hundred dollars for the specific folds in here, the nasal labial folds they're called, from the nose to the edge of the mouth.

O'BRIEN: I know you were showing us earlier some pictures of before and after. So if we pop those up, will you tell me exactly how the acid is working to fill that out.

GUPTA: Take a look there. And the pictures do tell a thousand words here. The nasal labial folds I was just mentioning, those are the folds that go from the nose to the corner of the mouth. Basically, what you're injecting the substance and actually filling those in. I think you can tell that's occurred there. Those folds are pretty prominent, pretty deep in this particular woman. Afterwards, it gives her a much more youthful look, and by getting rid of those folds, you can do the same thing with some of the frown lines in between the eyebrow. It will likely just be approved initially for the folds between the nose and the mouth, but at some point, maybe for all sorts of different wrinkles around the face.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 21, 2003 - 08:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Move over Botox, government regulators are considering approval of a new generation of wrinkle fillers.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with the cosmetic details.

Good morning to you, Sanjay.

How does this compare to the more famous product, Botox?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it works in a very different way. But it could be a good alternative. Plastic surgeons not quite ready to call this revolutionary, but at a minimum, it's a very big deal. We're talking about restylane and hylaform. I'm going to tell you what they are. But also mention that today, the FDA panel is getting together today to determine whether or not it should be approved in the United States. It's already been around in Europe and Canada for about eight years now, and has a pretty good track record out there.

First of all, restalyne and hylaform, what are they? They are basically these two substances that are made from a naturally occurring acid know as hylaronic acid. That acid is produced naturally in the body. It's injected just below the skin's surface. Its goal is to basically plump up the skin. That's a little different than the way Botox works. As you know, Soledad, because it actually relaxes the skin, or paralyzes the skin. If this FDA panel actually recommends approval, it could be approved as early as January, offering yet another alternative for the treatment of wrinkles -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, any risks to these procedures?

GUPTA: Yes. I think there's risks always to these procedures. The risk to this particular procedure a little different than Botox. For about seven days after the procedure, people may have complaints of redness, swelling, things like that around the actual injection site.

Bigger concern really is something, sort of these lumps under the skin. You're injecting this gelatin sort of acid underneath the skin. Sometimes if injected too much, you could actually develop these lumps under the skin, not a very cosmetically pleasing look. It lasts about six months, which is different than Botox which lasts two to three months. So if you do get these lumps you're going to be stuck with those for some time. Let me say as well, Soledad, your question about them working a little bit differently. If you think about it like this, one of the plastic surgeons we talked to thinks about the three r's of treating wrinkles. Botox sends to relax. That's the first 'r. ' If you talk about refilling now, if you're talking about restylane and hylaform, if neither one of those relatively minimally invasive procedures work, then you can reshape, and that's actually with the facelift or other surgical procedure. So sort of think of the three r's. The outcome may be the same, but the process by which you get there very different in those three -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: How about the cost? How does the cost compare, Sanjay?

GUPTA: The cost is still going to be somewhat expensive, obviously not approved by insurance. Several hundred dollars for a single injection that could last six months. Sometimes doctors are going to recommend more than one injection as well. It's going to defend on how deep the folds are, how significant the folds are. And of course, every six months or so, you're going to need to keep doing this. So several hundred dollars for the specific folds in here, the nasal labial folds they're called, from the nose to the edge of the mouth.

O'BRIEN: I know you were showing us earlier some pictures of before and after. So if we pop those up, will you tell me exactly how the acid is working to fill that out.

GUPTA: Take a look there. And the pictures do tell a thousand words here. The nasal labial folds I was just mentioning, those are the folds that go from the nose to the corner of the mouth. Basically, what you're injecting the substance and actually filling those in. I think you can tell that's occurred there. Those folds are pretty prominent, pretty deep in this particular woman. Afterwards, it gives her a much more youthful look, and by getting rid of those folds, you can do the same thing with some of the frown lines in between the eyebrow. It will likely just be approved initially for the folds between the nose and the mouth, but at some point, maybe for all sorts of different wrinkles around the face.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com