Unfair for Ephedra

Zac Bodenheimer

Dr. Rambo

English 101-13

2 December 2004

Unfair for Ephedra?

On June 24 at 10:10 a.m. a Baltimore Orioles pitcher named Steve Bechler died at North Ridge Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The team physician attributed his death to a heat stroke from the symptoms he saw such as an elevated body temperature of 108 degrees and major organ failure (Mileur pars. 2-3). However, as his death was investigated and his corpse was examined more closely a medical examiner said that Bechler's use of an herbal supplement called ephedra was a large causal factor to his death (Mileur, par. 4). What is this mysterious herb that has caused such controversy among doctors and physicians? Does it warrant the strict and severe penalties for possessing it that have recently emerged? Should it be available to enhance the performance of professional and pre-professional athletes everywhere? Ephedra is a notorious supplement that has not been thoroughly researched enough to know its effects and cannot be safely administered to athletes or any person of the general population.

Ephedra is a substance that has recently been banned in the United States. The compound ephedra contains ephedrine, a substance "used to relieve nasal congestion originating from allergic conditions, e.g., hay fever, or from bacterial or viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. It may be used as well to raise blood pressure" ("Ephedrine"). Because of its ability to raise blood pressure and increase the metabolism, it has been widely produced and advertised as a weight loss supplement ("Ephedrine"). It has also been used "in the production of methamphetamine", an illegal drug that affects the brain ("Ephedrine"). The adverse side effects and certain people's unhealthy reactions to the herb caused it to fall under the careful scrutiny of the United States Food and Drug Administration. On February 6th, 2004, the FDA banned the supplement stating, "We have concluded that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids pose a risk of serious adverse events, including heart attack, stroke, and death, and that these risks are unreasonable in light of any benefits that may result from the use of these products" (par. 2). At this point, the ban still exists on ephedra and any product containing the substance.

Even though ephedra has been banned, what are its effects upon athletes? Can it really produce a heightened and more skilled performance and can that merit its existence on the market? In one study, researchers "found that a combination of caffeine and ephedrine significantly improved male subjects' time to exhaustion when compared with male subjects who consumed a placebo" (Antonio 17). However, does the increase in performance warrant the enlarged health risk? Obviously ephedra does not come without danger. In March of 1994, "10 teenagers were rushed to Texas emergency rooms with severe reactions to diet pills containing ephedrine" (Berg 76). Though some believe that these supplements only affect professional athletes this is not the case. The problem is that in the realm of professional sports there are controls and bans on certain substances, however, "high school athletes, exempt from urine tests and sanctions, can use and abuse it and other supplements at will" (Wright 28). Also, it has been reported that despite a ban on the substance by the NCAA, "92% of athletes who reported use of stimulants in the last 30 days were aware of the NCAA ban on ephedrine" (Bents par. 18). Ephedra's ability to give athletes a heightened sense of awareness and energy is very attractive to the majority of competitors, but it does come at a risk. Also, this risk is almost never fully conveyed or acknowledged when ephedrine containing products are sold. It is this lack of education or warning that has caused such controversy over ephedra and has increased the health problems that have resulted.

The majority of Americans today associate ephedrine and ephedra products with weight loss. However, ephedra is in no way a weight loss substance. The advertisement of ephedra as a "miracle" weight loss pill is what has caused many people to have health problems as a result of taking the supplement. "Ephedrine is seldom used now for its legal use as a decongestant, says Gary Dewhirst, RPh, Hettinger, N.D. past president and chairman of the board of the North Dakota Pharmacy Association. It has too many severe reactions and unfortunate side effects, such as heart damage, stroke or seizures, especially when abused, and it is often abused by "kids who want to feel jumpy and hyper"" (qtd. in Berg par. 7). The side effects of ephedra have caused it to be marketed as a pill for weight loss, but clinically it is used for respiratory and sinus problems. Frances Berg discusses the deceit of the marketers when she states, "The new twist is that some pills have suggestive names like "Mini Thin," so diet conscious customers easily recognize them as weight loss products. However, the promoters make no claims for them as diet pills, and pretend they are being sold as decongestants" (par. 5). It is this type of false advertising that leads many people who are not "good" candidates for the product to take it thinking it will harmlessly take off a couple of pounds. However, the health problems that ephedrine presents for the unwary teenager or young adult who take it have led to its extinction from supermarket shelves everywhere.

Although ephedra has caused some health hazards for people, it is many times attributed with many problems that it did not cause. An example of this is with the aforementioned baseball player Steve Bechler. He had many preexisting conditions that were the main source of his heat stroke and eventual death. Richard Kreider, a licensed physician, states that Bechler had "a prior history of heat illness episodes while in high school- which heightens the probability of reoccurring incidents; a history of hypertension and liver problems; [and] he had not eaten solid food for a day or two, in an apparent attempt to lose weight" (150). Kreider also states that proper screening prior to Bechler's participation in his team's training camp would have identified his need for proper physical and nutritional counseling before he did such strenuous exercise (151). "It seems that Major League Baseball and others want to blame ephedra for the death of Mr. Bechler, rather than admit that they may have been negligent in screening, conditioning, and supervising their athletes" (Kreider 151). Ephedra