Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
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 Tremors are also a common reaction to antipsychotic drugs, theophylline (for asthma), Dilantin (for epilepsy), and Compazine (a tranquilizer and antinausea medicine), as well as the herbal stimulants ephedra, ginkgo biloba, and ginseng.
Tremors sometimes signal alkalosis, a pH imbalance (too little acid in body fluids). Other signs may include muscle twitching, lightheadedness, numbness, and tingling. Alkalosis-related tremors can be a clue to the eating disorder bulimia. The good news is that alkalosis is easily treated. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 All it did was ban the ephedra herb, not the ephedra molecule. Apparently, if you work at the FDA, all herbs are dangerous, while all over-the-counter drugs are perfectly safe, even if those two contain the exact same molecule. That's right: one has been banned, the other remains perfectly legal.
You can bet that in the ongoing campaign to discredit herbs and gain new regulatory power over them, the FDA is going to cite this study about finding heavy metals in a few imported Ayurvedic herbal products. |
Ruth Winter, M.S.
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 EPHEDRA • ephedra gerardiana. E. trifurca. E. sinica. E. equisetina. E. helvetica. Ma Huang. Morman Tea. There are about 40 species of this herb mentioned in ancient scriptures of India and used by the Chinese for more than 5,000 years. The stems contain alkaloids (see), including ephedrine (see). Herbalists use the herb to treat arthritis, asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, hay fever, and hives. See also Ephedrine.
EPHEDRINE • The alkaloid ephedrine is derived from the plant ephedra equisetina and others of the 40 species of ephedra or produced synthetically. |
Ruth Winter
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 EPHEDRINE • The alkaloid ephedrine is derived from the plant ephedra equi-setina and others of the forty species of ephedra or produced synthetically. ephedra has been used for more than five thousand years in Chinese medicine and has become more and more popular in Western medicine. It acts like epinephrine (see) and is used as a bronchodilator, nasal decongestant, to raise blood pressure, and topically to constrict blood vessels. See also ephedra. EPICHLOROHYDRIN • A colorless liquid with an odor resembling chloroform. It is soluble in water but mixes readily with alcohol and ether. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 A 100 mcg/mL ephedra concentration produced a 9% inhibition (Shin et al, 1997).
Motion Sickness Effects: The use of ephedrine for the prevention of motion sickness has yielded mixed results. Ephedrine 25 mg every 6 hours did not improve the symptoms of motion sickness when given with scopolamine 0.3 mg every 6 hours in 28 healthy naval volunteers during 24 hours in life rafts (Tokola et al, 1984). |
Paul D. Blanc, M.D.
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 It was not until Steve Bechler, a twenty-three-year-old pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles who had been using ephedra, collapsed and died at 2003 spring training that the FDA was goaded into action.12
Even more dramatic is the tragic case of a toxic chemical dye called FD&C Blue no. i. With the full approval of the FDA as a relatively harmless coloring agent, this chemical was used until recently in hospitals across the United States. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Fifteen healthy subjects (mean age 27 years) were orally supplemented with one capsule Metabolife 356® (containing ephedra 12 mg, caffeine (40 mg), and 17 other unspecified components) or placebo with a 7-day washout period between treatments. Compared to baseline, the mean QTc (Bazetti) interval increased by 22 milliseconds for the DSEC group (p=0.03) and 3 milliseconds for placebo (p=0.69). Study findings should be cautiously interpreted as the actual ingredient or ingredients in Metabolite 345 are not known (McBride et al, 2004). |
| Tricker AR, Wacker CD & Preussmann R: 2-(N-nitroso-N-methylamino) propiophenone, a direct acting bacterial mutagen found in nitrosated ephedra altissima tea. Toxicol Lett; 38(l-2):45-50. 1987.
Vahedi K, Domigo V, Amerenco P et al: Ischaemic stroke in a sportsman who consumed MA HUANG extract and creatine monohydrate for body building. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry; 68(1):112-113. 2000.
Van Mieghem W, Stevens E & Cosemans J: Ephedrine-induced cardiopathy. BMJ; 1:816. 1978.
Vukovich MD, Schoorman R, Heilman C, et al. |
| In an open-label, single-arm study, coadministration of ephedra and guarana significantly increased mean maximum change in heart rate and systolic blood pressure in healthy subjects (Haller et al, 2002).
Ma Huang increased heart rate and had variable effects on blood pressure in 12 healthy, normotensive subjects. Blood pressure effects varied in the 3 hours after Ma Huang administration. Four patients had statistically significant blood pressure increases, while two had statistically significant decreases. |
Ralph Golan, M.D.
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 See Chapter Nineteen for precautions.)
• ephedra (ma huang) (3 cups of tea a day) is useful for providing relief. Or use ephedra Plus (one or two capsules two or three times a day), a combination herbal formula containing ephedra, ginger, licorice root, marshmallow root, and other synergistic herbs, available from PhytoPharmica, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Warning: Too much ephedra can increase your heart rate and be too stimulating. Do not use if you have high blood pressure or heart disease. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 There are literally millions of people in this country who could benefit from ephedra as part of a Chinese medicine remedy. In Chinese medicine, ephedra is never taken alone, and never in high doses. It's only taken as part of a medicinal recipe prescribed to patients on a person-by-person basis, and it has been used for literally thousands of years in China and Asia without harm. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I can't wait to see what headlines will come next:
"Prescription Drugs That Killed Patients Found Innocent Since Patients Did Not Come Back to Life After the Drugs Were Removed"
Or:
"Radiation From Mammograms Found Harmless Because Death Rates Continued to Climb Even After Mammography was Halted"
Or my favorite: "Ephedra Herb Banned After Ten Deaths; Drugs Are Safer Because They Only Kill 100,000 Americans a Year"
I'm beginning to wonder if all the journalists have been injected with mercury. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Meanwhile, a Chinese herb, ma huang, or "Ephedra," as it's better known, is blamed for the death of a few dozen individuals who overdosed like crazy trying to lose weight. A few dozen people and the FDA said, "This is dangerous! We have to take this off the market! It's unregulated. It's a Chinese herb. It will kill you!" It is now a crime to sell ephedra. They're criminalizing medicinal herbs, while legalizing the drugs that kill you. This is what's going on today.
It's really about control
There's a lot at stake here -- a lot of power, control, and, of course, a whole lot of money. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
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 Drugs: aerial parts (=stem, leaves plus flowers/fruit)
• ephedra, ephedra sinica Stapf (Ephedra herba).
• Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna Jacquin and C. laevigata (Poiret) DC. (syn. C. oxycantha) (Crataegi herba or Crataegi folium cum flore).
• Passion flower, Passiflora incarnata L. (Passiflora herba).
• Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium L. (Absinthii herba); in Africa and Asia, sweet or annual wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) is used in the treatment of malaria. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 We see them trying to get legislation to ban drugs from Canada and attacking online pharmacies, but then also discrediting any medicinal herbs like ma huang or ephedra.
Frank: ephedra – which maybe killed a person or two, maybe it didn't – really begs the (previous) question. Because, I believe the third- or fourth-leading cause of death in the United States today is properly prescribed drugs. In other words: Hospitals and doctors prescribing drugs, so called "ethical drugs," the way the pharmaceutical companies tell them to, are the third or fourth largest killer of patients in the US today. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 For example, the FDA outlawed the selling of ephedra, a common herb in Chinese Medicine, yet the same active chemical is openly allowed to be purchased in over-the-counter cold medicines sold at virtually every corner pharmacy in America. Apparently, the FDA believes the herb is dangerous, but somehow the refined, highly-concentrated drug is far safer -- which is like saying crack is safer than coca leaf tea. The real reason for this double standard is that over-the-counter medicines are profitable for Big Pharma, and that's exactly why this drug remains on the market. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 The FDA has used disinformation and half-truths to ban ephedra and attack kava kava, among other medicinal herbs. The agency routinely invents or exaggerates selected piece of information to justify any action it desires to take against natural medicine.
12) Thanks to lax FDA drug safety standards, U.S. citizens are now routinely treated as guinea pigs by drug companies, and the real dangers of new drugs are only realized after they harm or kill tens of thousands of patients. The FDA remains consistently slow to pull dangerous drugs off the market. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
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| Other components are catechin derivatives, and diterpenes, including ephedrannin A and mahuannin A, have been isolated from other species of ephedra.
OH
OH
-. H
,CH,
/ytN!/CH3
H i
H z
\^ HN.
NCH3
CH3
Ephedrine
Pseudoephedrine
Fig. 15.1
Pharmacological effects and clinical efficacy
Ephedra has been used since ancient times in China for asthma and hay fever, as a bronchodilator, sympathomimetic, CNS and cardiac stimulant. Herbalists also use it to treat enuresis, allergies, narcolepsy and other disorders, and anti-inflammatory activity has been observed in extracts. |
| BRONCHODILATORS AND DECONGESTANTS
SYSTEMIC DRUGS
Ma huang, ephedra spp.
The plant and the drug
Ma huang (Ephedra sinica Stapf. and other species of the family Ephedraceae) is an ancient Chinese medicine, which is now used worldwide. It was the original source of ephedrine, a useful decongestant and bronchodilator. Traditionally, it is used to treat asthma and nasal congestion, in the form of nasal drops. Pseudoephedrine is now used more widely for respiratory congestion as it has fewer central nervous system (CNS) stimulatory properties. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Repeatedly banned and confiscated herbs and nutritional supplements that compete with prescription drugs. ephedra, for example, was banned by the FDA based on a political agenda, not good science.
Conducted armed raids on alternative medicine clinics, confiscating computers, threatening alternative health practitioners, and scaring away patients. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Hence the actions against ephedra, kava kava, etc.).
To my knowledge, the FDA has not raided any vitamin shops in recent years, but they've sure cranked up the threatening legal tactics. The legal assault on Lane Labs is a perfect example of the new tactics the FDA seems to now prefer: Put companies out of business legally and financially rather than at gunpoint. It's more palatable to the American people.
Any more attacks on NewsTarget?
We have not had any more attacks on the NewsTarget website since Wednesday evening of this week, and even that wasn't a full-on DDoS attack. |
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
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| Certain herbal supplements, such as ginseng, and those touted for weight loss, such as guarana and ephedra, can also make your heart race.
Palpitations can signal a plethora of medical problems as well. They can, for example, be a sign of a fever, anemia, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), low potassium levels, or hyperthyroidism. (See Feeling Hot When It's Not, below, and Appendix I.)
Not surprisingly, palpitations are a common sign of both benign and serious heart problems. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Recently, there was a court decision that overturned the previous one that allowed low-dose ephedra to be used.
Mike: Right, that was in Utah.
John: Yes, and the court just quite recently made a ruling that all ephedra is banned. Well, the outrageous thing about this is that they are not doing a damn thing about the far more dangerous pseudoephedrine found in over-the-counter cold preparations, which any 6-year-old tall enough to reach the checkout counter in a supermarket can purchase with no questions asked. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 The FDA, for example, banned the Chinese herb ma huang because it contains ephedra. Yet the exact same chemical compound remains perfectly legal in over-the-counter drugs like Sudafed and a variety of cold medicines. Sudafed even gets its name from ephedra: "pseudo-ephedrine." So why is ephedrine illegal in herbs, yet legal in pharmacy drugs manufactured by drug companies? You already know the answer.
With all that in mind, why do you think prescription drugs that kill people remain legal? Think carefully now... |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| All it did was ban the ephedra herb, not the ephedra molecule. Apparently, if you work at the FDA, all herbs are dangerous, while all over-the-counter drugs are perfectly safe, even if those two contain the exact same molecule. That's right: one has been banned, the other remains perfectly legal.
You can bet that in the ongoing campaign to discredit herbs and gain new regulatory power over them, the FDA is going to cite this study about finding heavy metals in a few imported Ayurvedic herbal products. |
Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
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 Companies producing ephedra products made a lot of money until, eventually, the FDA reviewed all the reports of problems with this herb. The agency determined that ephedra was associated with a number of strokes, heart attacks, and other serious complications and called for its removal from the market. Aside from being overweight, some of the people who suffered life-threatening or even fatal side effects were otherwise in good health. This stimulant might have helped people shed pounds in the short term, but it was not safe enough to be used for the long haul. |
Elson M. Haas, M.D.
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 There is recent concern with ephedra (and guarana less so) products that are used for energy and weight loss. Many people have problems with nervousness, agitation, fast heart rate, palpitations, and even more dangerous heart issues. There have been some deaths from ephedra use/overuse and deaths, and because of this, there are current legislation attempts to eliminate ephedra stimulants from the public marketplace.
Both extracted and synthesized caffeine may be added to other products. |
the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books
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 A Chinese herb called ephedra is a good nasal decongestant, says Dr. Tyler. You can often find it in teas in health food stores, but make sure you're getting ephedra sinica, the Chinese or Indian variety. The American species of ephedra lacks the active ingredient you need. Dr. Tyler cautions that ephedra will also act as a mild stimulant and should be avoided if you have high blood pressure or heart problems. Drink two cups a day until you feel better.
What if It's an Allergy}
If your doctor says your chronic stuffy nose results from an allergy, these are the basic treatments. |
J. Douglas Bremner
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 Do not under any circumstance take Meridia, ephedra, ma huang, phenter-mine, or any of the other amphetaminelike drugs.
Drug
Common, . |
Marshall Editions
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 Anything that causes spasm of the blood vessels, such as nicotine, cold medicines, diet pills, and ephedra should be avoided. Certain herbal therapies, especially ginkgo, can also increase blood flow. Avoiding smoking is particularly important if you have Raynaud's disease.
Medication: Calcium channel blockers, usually nifedipine, are used to treat Raynaud's disease. Nitroglycerin, which causes the direct dilation of the blood vessels, has also been used topically. |
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