Warning on drugs

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Jim questioned what chemicals were banned in cough medicines and diet

pills - Watch out however as the one they recommend (highlighted)

is the one that is bad for MSA patients - Catch 22 !!!

The second article is about a "natural" substance which has been proven

to be harmful.

here is the story again:

In The News:

Watch Out For PPA

Check the labels on your over-the-counter medications. The Food

and Drug Administration is warning people to stop using drugs

that contain phenylpropanolamine, or PPA. PPA is an ingredient in

many over-the-counter cold remedies and decongestants, as well as

appetite suppressants. The warning comes in the wake of a five-

year Yale University study that found that PPA increased the risk

of hemorrhagic strokes (bleeding in the brain) in young people,

especially young women. The researchers compared 702 people

under 50 who'd had hemorrhagic strokes with 1,376 people who had

never had a stroke. They determined that PPA use increased the

stroke risk for young women within three days of taking appetite

suppressants or within three days of taking their first ever dose

of PPA. The FDA is suggesting that people immediately stop taking

medications that contain PPA. The agency is preparing to ban the

use of PPA altogether, but in the meantime has urged drug

manufacturers to voluntarily withdraw PPA-containing products

from the market, The Associated Press reports. The FDA says

people taking OTC diet pills should consult with their doctors

about prescription diet drugs that do not contain PPA. Nasal

sprays or cold medicine that contains pseudoephedrine rather

than

PPA are alternatives for cold sufferers, the AP says.

For more on PPA, go to:

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?d=dmtUSPV2 & c=223137 & amp;p=~br,IHW|~st,9103|

For more on stroke, go to: http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?t=8772

Ephedra Warning

A popular herbal supplement used for bodybuilding and weight loss

may be much more trouble than it's worth. The stimulant ephedra,

also known as ma huang, can cause serious health problems

including heart attacks, strokes and seizures in otherwise

healthy people, according to a study in the New England Journal

of Medicine. The study, commissioned by the Food and Drug

Administration, reviewed records from 140 ephedra users who

experienced complications between 1997 and 1999. The researchers

found that one-third of the the patients' complications were

definitely or probably caused by ephedra use and another third of

the problems were possibly caused by ephedra. In one-fifth of

the cases there was not enough information to determine the

cause. The researchers say most of the people studied were

healthy young people, some of whom had been taking ephedra for

only a few days. Ephedra is chemically related to

phenylpropanolamine, a substance found in many cold medicines and

diet pills that the FDA has deemed unsafe. Ephedra is found in

many unregulated products sold at health food stores. However,

The Associated Press quotes some critics of the study who say

that in some cases preexisting medical problems may have caused

the patients' complications, and in other cases patients were

taking other medications or substances such as caffeine that

heightened the effects of ephedra. Pregnant women and anyone

with a history of heart, kidney or thyroid disease, stroke,

psychiatric problems, asthma, diabetes or seizures should not

take ephedra, the AP says.