Ephedra potentially lethal?

[rainfall]

http://www.adn.com/life/story/4160384p-4174371c.html

Botanicals kill young athletes


JAY CALDWELL
SPORTS FITNESS

(Published: October 14, 2003)
Last week, Kevin Riggins was in town. You may never have heard of him. His son died in September 2002 in Lincoln, Ill. Of a massive heart attack. At the age of 16. He was a football and hockey player, wrestler and martial artist. Ephedra killed him. At 16.

Riggins came to address the athletes at the University of Alaska Anchorage and a smattering of them at Chugiak High School. He also spent an hour on KSKA's "Line One" program with Dr. Thad Woodard.

Riggins isn't maudlin. He isn't currying pity. He is on a mission to make people (particularly athletes and their parents) aware of the dangers of ephedra and ephedralike stimulants, the calculated and malicious negligence of the supplement industry and the tacit collusion of our politicians in the egregious disgrace of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (more about the act next week).

Maybe you've heard of Korey Stringer of the Vikings? Rashidi Wheeler of Northwestern? Steve Bechler of the Orioles? Ephedra probably got each of them. The Tour de France is littered with bodies dead from stimulants. All in the primes of their lives.

Ephedra (Ma-huang) is a botanical harvested from the dried stems of a small bush found throughout northern China: Ephedra sinica, intermedia and equisetina. It contains a half-dozen potentially toxic nerve and heart stimulant chemicals. Ephedra shrubs in North America do not contain these "alkaloids."

What is especially frightening about the supplements sold in "health food" stores or through the Internet is that although ephedra is sufficiently dangerous in its own right, it is almost always combined with other stimulants, especially with extremely high levels of caffeine. These preparations (teas, pills, powders, capsules) can be lethal. And have been.

It is ironic that it is difficult to document any performance enhancement from these ubiquitous supplements. Certainly those juiced on amphetamines believe they are better for them, but the hard data doesn't support it.

Riggins' message is important. And some are listening. Already Illinois has banned the sale of all ephedra products. New York and California may soon follow suit.

Do you have any lying around?

Jay Caldwell is director of the Alaska Sports Medicine Clinic.

[Ronin]

ANYTHING that speeds up your metabolism and is thermogenic can **** you up.
But people will keep doing it, like steroids, beacuse its the "easy" way to get what they want.

[kismasher]

Originally posted by ronin69
ANYTHING that speeds up your metabolism and is thermogenic can **** you up.
But people will keep doing it, like steroids, beacuse its the "easy" way to get what they want.

money

[Ronin]

and fame and for some poor losers, babes.

[Berserk411]

take enough advil and you'll die too

[deus ex machina]

It's not about taking "too much". It's about "taking it", period.

Ephedra is an amphetamine. It's like taking speed to cut weight basically.

[Kingston]

hmm, no, iv been doing some reading...it appears that ephedra itself is not really the problem it is in the manner that people take it.

Often taking a higher dossage then recomended, or in conjunction with other things that create a bad situation. Also people take it for long periods of time "regularly" at higher then recomended dossage.

Not to mention it is used to "cure" things that it was not originaly ment to cure, such as to lose wieght, or to boost sexual function.

I am definately no expert, but some chinese herbalists seem to be pretty upset over the ban of ephedra in some places, as well some costomers who use it responsibly are a little upset.

I dont take ephedra, i personaly dont like the idea of taking any suppliments....just feels like cheating, even advil for headaches and such, its just too easy lol.

I have to say i agree more with the chinese herbalists who are pro ephedra......It seems people can use it in a safe manner, they just have to "know what they are doing" i guess.

[The Wastrel]

Chinese herbalists "know what they're doing"? Let's hear it for bear gall...and tiger penis cures for impotence! And ginseng that cures everything from cancer to broken bones!! Woohoo!

[Phrost]

Having a nice tall glass of Ephedra right now. Mmmm.

Seriously. It's just like anything. Hell, if you drink too much WATER you can die.

I usually pick up a Ripped Force drink when I'm at the gym, pour it into a shaker, and dilute it with water. I'll drink about half of it during my work out, and half either the next day, or sometimes during the day depending on what I'm doing (or if there isn't anything better in the fridge.)

If I still feel like I've taken too much even with all this moderation, I'll stop it and drink loads of water.

There are a lot worse things on the market than this, but I really can't stand all the special interest groups who feel the government should make decisions for individuals and tell them what to do with their bodies. Yes, absolutely there are some idiots who would drug themselves into oblivion if it were legal to do so, but that's part of natural selection; I don't want people like that in the gene pool anyway.

[deus ex machina]

omega should pipe in any moment now.