Where can I find an article supporting the safe and responsible use of ephedra. In light of the recent mens journal “the sport supplement that can kill you”, I need some ammo for my ill informed friends. Something that maybe includes the incidences of complications related to aspirin and other drugs nobody would think twice about taking. Also the incidence of stroke in non-ephedra using athletes while exercising would be interesting. You know to see how often strokes just happen out of nowhere, to see if this particular incident could simply be ruled unfortunate. I m just really tired of people taking the mainstream media portrayal of the sports supplement industry hook line and sinker.
-Jason
The unfortunate events related to ephedra are just that, “unfortunate events.” All of these reports you hear of are adverse effect reports, made out by people to the proper authorities. None of these are conclusive studies…
This study is the only formal risk assesment report done to date about ephedra products.
http://www.crnusa.org/ pdfs/CRNsCommenttoDocket122000.pdf
Here’s what you can tell them (all those who believe ephedra is death incarnate.) I’ve read that same article and I was equally enraged by what they said. Granted, it is sad to see that a few folks will have adverse reactions to it, but, bottom line, it’s a safe and effective product when USED PROPERLY. Unlike cigarettes and alcohol, which you can remind them, are legal, and offer worse consequences (short term and long term). Basically, the only reason that society doesn’t cry wolf anymore about cigarettes and alcohol is because everybody is well informed about what they do if used (and more importantly, what they do when used IMPROPERLY). Its really a shame that people would abuse something as strong as ephedra, or even worse, use it before they know how it works in the body, where it’s derived from, etc. That’s what happens though, and it still even happens with alcohol and tobacco; people mindlessly poisoning their body by abusing these substances.
Here is a recent study that is quite informative. It entails the effects of 6 months of an herbal ephedra/caffiene stack and includes pertinent safety data.
Boozer et al., "Herbal ephedra/caffiene for weight loss: a 6-month randomized safety and efficacy trial" International Journal of Obesity 26:593:604, (2002).
There are also some editorials in that same journal volume worth checking out that come before and after the main article.
Ok this might seem dumb, but where can I find the journal, most university libraries? or no? Online maybe? Thankyou for your response.
-jason
It is a fairly common journal and most university health or medical libraries should carry it. You can get it online, but you’ll have to pay for a copy of the article because it is so recent.
here is one site i found thats a supporter of beloved ephedra http://www.ephedrafacts.com i have more and i will try and find them.