Unfair for EphedraEssay title: Unfair for EphedraZac BodenheimerDr. RamboEnglish 101-132 December 2004Unfair for Ephedra?On June 24 at 10:10 a.m. a Baltimore Orioles pitcher named Steve Bechler died at North Ridge Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The team physician attributed his death to a heat stroke from the symptoms he saw such as an elevated body temperature of 108 degrees and major organ failure (Mileur pars. 2-3). However, as his death was investigated and his corpse was examined more closely a medical examiner said that Bechler’s use of an herbal supplement called ephedra was a large causal factor to his death (Mileur, par. 4). What is this mysterious herb that has caused such controversy among doctors and physicians? Does it warrant the strict and severe penalties for possessing it that have recently emerged? Should it be available to enhance the performance of professional and pre-professional athletes everywhere? Ephedra is a notorious supplement that has not been thoroughly researched enough to know its effects and cannot be safely administered to athletes or any person of the general population.
Ephedra is a substance that has recently been banned in the United States. The compound ephedra contains ephedrine, a substance “used to relieve nasal congestion originating from allergic conditions, e.g., hay fever, or from bacterial or viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. It may be used as well to raise blood pressure” (“Ephedrine”). Because of its ability to raise blood pressure and increase the metabolism, it has been widely produced and advertised as a weight loss supplement (“Ephedrine”). It has also been used “in the production of methamphetamine”, an illegal drug that affects the brain (“Ephedrine”). The adverse side effects and certain people’s unhealthy reactions to the herb caused it to fall under the careful scrutiny of the United States Food and Drug Administration. On February 6th, 2004, the FDA banned the supplement stating, “We have concluded that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids pose a risk of serious adverse events, including heart attack, stroke, and death, and that these risks are unreasonable in light of any benefits that may result from the use of these products” (par. 2). At this point, the ban still exists on ephedra and any product containing the substance.
Even though ephedra has been banned, what are its effects upon athletes? Can it really produce a heightened and more skilled performance and can that merit its existence on the market? In one study, researchers “found that a combination of caffeine and ephedrine significantly improved male subjects’ time to exhaustion when compared with male subjects who consumed a placebo” (Antonio 17). However, does the increase in performance warrant the enlarged health risk? Obviously ephedra does not come without danger. In March of 1994, “10 teenagers were rushed to Texas emergency rooms with severe reactions to diet pills containing ephedrine” (Berg 76). Though some believe that these supplements only affect professional athletes this is not the case. The problem is that in the realm of professional sports there are controls and bans on certain substances, however, “high school athletes, exempt from urine tests and sanctions, can use and abuse it and other supplements at will” (Wright 28). Also, it has been reported that despite a ban on the substance by the NCAA, “92% of athletes who reported use of stimulants in the last 30 days were aware of the NCAA ban on ephedrine” (Bents par. 18). Ephedra’s ability to give athletes a heightened sense of awareness and energy is very attractive to the majority of competitors, but it does come at a risk. Also, this risk is almost never fully conveyed or acknowledged when ephedrine containing products are sold. It is this lack of education or warning that has caused such controversy over ephedra and has increased the health problems that have resulted.
The majority of Americans today associate ephedrine and ephedra products with weight loss. However, ephedra is in no way a weight loss substance. The advertisement of ephedra as a “miracle” weight loss pill is what has caused many people to have health problems as a result of taking the supplement. “Ephedrine is seldom used now for its legal use as a decongestant, says Gary Dewhirst, RPh, Hettinger, N.D. past president and chairman of the board of the North Dakota Pharmacy Association. It has too many severe reactions and unfortunate side effects, such as heart damage, stroke or seizures, especially when abused, and it is often abused by “kids who want to feel jumpy and hyper”” (qtd. in Berg par. 7). The side effects of ephedra have caused it to be marketed as a pill for weight loss,
”Baker & Wilfredson’s ad, on the other hand, is not a weight loss product. It has ingredients that are known to cause toxicity, irritant, impulcer, gastrointestinal irritant and many other negative outcomes. It has been identified that: ephedra is not safe for the consumer to consume or be taken; (A) there is no clinical evidence supporting the safety claims; or (B) there is no scientific support for the safety of this product. A positive clinical study, which indicates it is safe, also has been published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the American Society of Clinical Microbiologists.
Celegant or safe?
What do a brand of ephedra think about this? Are your parents or others planning to get involved in a weight loss campaign? Are they going to tell their children that they should not be taking ephedra? Because a large group of us in the medical community have never had a conversation about this product, because that’s about the way we do things. And so, why isn’t this an acceptable brand? There are good reasons for it, but it’s far from being an ideal and is far from safe (the ad does not include any nutritional and/or lifestyle recommendations), nor is it effective for weight loss in its current form. There was nothing on the label of ephedra-filled tablets or their associated pills about the benefits or risks they provide to weight loss, nor was there anything in the advertising that mentioned how dangerous it can be in children’s bodies (there have recently been no studies comparing echinoid-containing tablets to tablets containing ephedra-filled ephedra tablets in children. The fact that there has been no research indicating an adverse effect on people’s health on this formulation in children is a clear indication that the potential of this product in children should not be an issue, but instead it simply is not the right type of product for you. One of the issues is that this product does not have any side effects, however serious the side effects are (in part because it is made of ephedra, which is also a parabens) and you don’t have to be a child to consume it. It seems to be a good thing if you’re going to eat it.
Bottom line?
The best way to manage weight loss in any form is by eating well. To avoid taking and taking large amounts of or using ephedra, do yourself a favor and consider an organic snack to avoid any risks to yourself and your baby.
And when you get to the point of drinking or using any other form of ephedra for your weight control, stop. When you are in a state where it is unsafe to ingest ephedra, consider following all the common dietary guidelines, especially those from the American Cancer Society, Dr. William C. Ewen, M.D., M.P., and