Fwd: FDA to target ephedra for scrutiny in wake of study listing dangers

[Guest guest]

I wonder if the FDA is bothering to get any input from the TCM community,

the people who know the most about ephedra? Probably not, which is ironic

considering that it's been both TCM and Western herbalists who have been

sounding the warnings on the inappropriate use of this herb for years.

Ephedra can be a godsend when used appropriately and in the right dose for

the correct amount of time. It is NOT indicated for weight loss, staying

awake, building muscle mass, partying hard and long, or indefinite use.

 

Victoria

 

>FDA to target ephedra for scrutiny in wake of study listing

>dangers

>Mon, 6 Nov 2000 18:39:40 -0700

>

>FDA to target ephedra for scrutiny in wake of study listing dangers

>

> Tucson, Arizona Tuesday, 7 November 2000

>

>

> FDA to target ephedra for scrutiny in wake of

>study listing dangers

> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

> Ephedra, an herbal stimulant used by millions of

>Americans for bodybuilding and weight loss, can cause heart attacks,

>stroke, seizures and death in otherwise healthy young people, researchers

>say.

>

> At least 54 deaths and about 1,000 reports of

>complications have been linked to ephedra since the mid-1990s.

>

> The researchers concluded that the dietary

>supplement, also known as ma huang, poses a risk that far outweighs any

>benefits it might have.

>

> " They're uncommon events, but they're serious, "

>said Dr. Neal L. Benowitz, chief of clinical pharmacology at the University

>of California at San Francisco. " The substance is unreasonably hazardous as

>marketed. "

>

> The research, commissioned by the Food and Drug

>Administration, appears in the New England Journal of Medicine, which moved

>up release of the study from Dec. 21 to yesterday because of the importance

>of the finding.

>

> Benowitz and colleague Dr. Christine A. Haller

>noted that most of the cases they studied involved healthy young people.

>Some had been taking ephedra for just days or weeks, and two women who

>became pregnant while taking it lost their babies.

>

> Ephedra (pronounced eh-FED-ruh) products are often

>sold in health food stores under such names as Ripped Fuel - used by

>bodybuilders hoping to increase muscle and energy - as well as Metabolife

>and Diet-Phen for dieters. There are hundreds of unregulated ephedra

>products on the market.

>

> Benowitz estimated 12 million people in the United

>States used ephedra products last year.

>

> Joseph Levitt, director of FDA's food safety

>center, said the agency will decide by the end of the year whether to

>impose restrictions on ephedra or commission further research.

>

> In the study, released yes-terday, the researchers

>reviewed records from 140 ephedra users who suffered complications in 1997

>through 1999. They found about one-third of the problems definitely or

>probably were caused by the ephedra and another one-third possibly were

>caused by it.

>

> In one-fifth of the cases, there was insufficient

>information to draw conclusions, and the rest were deemed unrelated to

>ephedra use.

>

>

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>

>© Arizona Daily Star

 

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