[escepticos] U.S. FDA warns against 'herbal fen-phen' diet aids

["carlitos" <180807@...>]

Hola, hola.

Mientras un panel de los National Institutes of Health apoya la
acupuntura (para vergüenza de los médicos con dos dedos de frente),
tiene que ser la U.S. Food and Drug Administration, imagino que más
apartada de las presiones de los lobbys y todas esas historias quien
haga algo razonable advirtiendo de los peligros de todos esos venenos
'naturales' que ayudan a adelgazar. Pero no basa con advertir, hay
que controlarlo.

Saludos, Carlos Ungil

U.S. FDA warns against 'herbal fen-phen' diet aids

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration warned consumers Thursday against diet supplements
known as ''herbal fen-phen'' and said it would work to get these
drugs off the market.
``These unapproved drugs have not been shown to be safe or effective
and may contain ingredients that have been associated with
injuries,'' the FDA said in a statement.
These herbal supplements are considered unapproved because they are
being promoted as ``natural'' alternatives to the prescription
anti-obesity drug combination phentermine and fenfluramine --
collectively called fen-phen -- which have been withdrawn from the
market due to safety concerns.
The FDA said the use of the alternative, herbal products could
increase following the withdrawal of fen-phen.
``FDA regards any over-the-counter product commercially promoted as
an alternative to prescription anti-obesity drugs (such as
phentermine and fenfluramine) to be a drug,'' the statement said.
``The agency is taking appropriate regulatory action to remove such
products from the market.
The main ingredient of most herbal fen-phen is ephedra, commonly
known as Ma Huang, a stimulant associated with more than 800 reports
since 1994 of conditions such as high blood pressure, heart rate
irregularities, insomnia, nervousness, tremors, headaches, seizures,
heart attacks, strokes and death, the FDA said.
Many herbal fen-phen products that contain ephedra also contain
hypericum perforatum, an herb known as St. John's Wort, which the FDA
said had not been studied adequately on its own or in combination
with ephedra.
Another ingredient in some of these products is 5-hydroxy-tryptophan,
a compound related to L-tryptophan, a diet aid widely used in the
United States untill 1990. It was withdrawn from the market after it
was linked to more than 1,500 cases of a rare blood disorder,
including 38 deaths.