Dangerous Diet Pills
Reported February 13, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) — More than half the American population is obese, so it’s no surprise weight loss supplements are popular. What is surprising is that these supplements are not tested for safety. They promise to fight fat, burn fat, and enhance metabolism, but some of the new ingredients may be dangerous.
“I feel more energetic. I feel like I work out longer.” Justin Fortune thinks his dietary supplements work. Still he has noticed some side effects. “You feel kind of sweaty, clammy, sometimes a little jittery,” he says.
Harmless? Clinical Pharmacologist Christine Haller, M.D., says no. “I would not tell consumers that it’s safe to take these products,” she says.
In 2004, the FDA banned weight loss supplements that contained ephedra, a stimulant that causes stroke and death in some people. But many ephedra-free supplements contain caffeine and citrus aurantium. “There is some sort of interaction that when the two stimulants are taken together, there is this effect on blood pressure and heart rate,” says Dr. Haller, of University of California Medical Center in San Francisco.
In a recent study, she found a single dose of products containing caffeine and citrus aurantium resulted in an increase in heart rate — up to an extra 16 beats per minute — and an increase in blood pressure by up to 12 percent. “It’s bad for your heart. It’s bad for your kidneys, increases you risk of stroke,” Dr. Haller says.
And that’s just in a healthy population. What about people who already have high blood pressure, like Fortune? Dr. Haller says it could be enough to cause them to be at an increased risk for a heart attack or a stroke. But in the quest for that lean, chiseled body, that may be a fact overlooked.
Fortune says, “Knowing the type of person I am, I don’t know if I would do anything about it.” He thought the risk was worth it, but he recently had his blood pressure checked. It was so high his doctor said that in the ER, he’d be admitted for at least a couple of days. Justin is no longer taking supplements containing caffeine and citrus aurantium, which is also known as bitter orange and synephrine.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Wallace Ravven
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco Medical Center
3333 California St. Ste 103
San Francisco, CA
94143-0462
(415) 502-1332
wravven@pubaff.ucsf.edu
http://pub.ucsf.edu/newsservices/releases/200509076/