Ephedra: Setting the Double Standard in Minor Baseball on MLN Sports Zone

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Is Ephedra Dangerous?

The answer largely depends on whom you ask.

Richard Price, spokesman for the Ephedra Education Council (EEC), maintains that ephedra is indeed safe when used properly.

“Clinical studies have been performed at Harvard and Columbia Universities. [This research] continues to confirm that ephedra dietary supplements are safe and effective when used as directed, “ Price told MLN.

“There are more than 55 clinical studies that state [dietary supplements] are safe, and not one single study, not one clinical research study that says they are not safe. It’s a bunch of speculation basically as to what is causing people to have adverse reactions.”

It may not be the general public the EEC has to convince anymore. It seems the U.S. Government has some serious doubts about that claim.

The Food and Drug Administration, which has reports of at least 100 deaths linked to ephedra supplements, had been under pressure from doctors for years to ban the herb. The death of pitcher Steve Bechler renewed the call for further scrutiny of the substance.

Now the Feds are proposing that supplements containing ephedra should bear warning labels, indicating that the products can cause heart attacks, strokes or can even kill if used improperly.

The FDA is basing these claims on a report, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, by the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit institution, whose mission is to “help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.”

"These findings are a strong signal that there is a link between use of ephedra and the occurrence of death, heart attack, stroke, seizures, and serious psychiatric symptoms," said Paul Shekelle, the RAND and Veterans Affairs physician, who headed the study. "It is more likely than not that there is a relationship, although the available evidence falls short of the conventional level of scientific proof."

RAND researchers based their findings on a detailed review of 52 clinical trials of ephedrine or herbal ephedra for weight loss or athletic performance in humans. They searched the medical literature and other sources for both published and unpublished medical trials of the substances.
In response to the RAND research the EEC issued a statement, in which they downplayed the significance of the study, but to their credit, did declare:

“The Ephedra Education Council (EEC) has always supported regulation of ephedra products based on science…[T]he correct path for assessing the potential risk of ephedra is through scientific research, and not speculation.”

We asked EEC spokesman Richard Price if his organization actively works with any pro sports team, in educating the trainers and players on the proper use of ephedra.

“We have made ourselves available, and have stated publicly that we would be available to help them educate their athletes on the correct use of ephedra dietary supplements, but have not been approached so far,” Price stated.

With the uproar surrounding ephedra, you would think everyone concerned about ephedra would get educated about it.

“I think it’s very logical,” Price admitted. “These supplements have a history of safe and effective use. There are people who abuse them. Take more than is recommended, or do not read and follow the labels. That’s just wrong.”

Can Thousands of Years of Chinese Medicine be Wrong??

Long, long before anyone had heard of Steve Bechler, or even baseball for that matter, ephedra, also known as ma huang, was an ancient Chinese secret.

"Ma Huang, the classical formula, has been commonly used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years," said Dr. Michael Veng, President of the International Institute of Chinese Medicine in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Veng tells MLN that the herb, commonly called ephedra by Western herbal, dietary, and medical manufacturers, is slightly different in its "classic Chinese" formulation.

The herb used to treat heart-native problems in Chinese medicine. "Ma Huang is used to sweat the common cold," said Veng. "It pulls the heat from the body." Veng says that the herb's "hot nature" is also used to treat arthritis, asthma, and muscle spasms.

"Western medicine failed," Veng observes, "when it used chemical materials to strengthen muscle power." The doctor tells MLN that one of the other properties of ma huang is to strengthen muscles. If misused, it also has the ability to create a euphoric "high" similar to other banned drugs.

Veng says that he has not studied the chemical properties of the refined form of the herb that is sold as ephedra. He is aware of cautions from other practitioners of Chinese medicine in California about potential "serious side effects" of the herb in the formulations that are available outside of the classic Chinese formulation.

Although the controversy rages on, one thing is certain: It seems beneficial for everyone that now takes or is considering taking ephedra-based supplements to get educated and know the facts.

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