Dangers of Ephedra

Ephedra linked to high number of Marine illnesses

May 3, 2003
A military study that was part of the research considered by the Navy’s Surgeon General when the decision to pull ephedra products from Marine bases was made back in February 2001 has shown that half of all heat-related illnesses reported in 2000 at Camp Pendleton were linked to ephedra use. The ephedra study was high considering only 7% of Marines used ephedra on a daily basis. An emergency room physician at the Naval Hospital in San Diego said that he conducted a survey of 300 Camp Pendleton Marines and found that 7% used ephedra on a daily basis, 11% used ephedra weekly or less, and 82% of those surveyed said they did not use ephedra.

A 2000 review of hospital medical records found that half of the few Marines using ephedra had suffered heat-related illnesses within 24 hours of using ephedra. The military physician is currently in Iraq and said that prior to leaving the country he had treated about one Camp Pendleton Marine each month in the emergency room because of ephedra-related problems, including irregular heartbeat and acute psychosis. According to Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen, a consumer group that has been aggressively pushing the FDA to remove ephedra products from the market for years, the Camp Pendleton findings underscore the need for the removal of ephedra products.

For more information on the dangers of ephedra, please contact us.

Read More Related Ephedra Articles....