Ephedra/Ma Huang

Ephedra is an herbal remedy commonly used for asthma, weight loss, and allergies. Although ephedra is naturally occuring, it is also potentially harmful and has few or no appropriate uses. Nevertheless, it is commonly found in many over-the-counter herbal remedies.

Ephedra acts as a stimulent. It raises the heart rate and blood pressure. It's been linked to insomnia, anxiety, irritability, high blood pressure and death. Recently a patient visited our office complaining of feeling jittery and having horrible headache. It turned out that his symptoms had started when he sarted taking a "natural" muscle building supplement. When we looked at the ingredients, the first one was ephedra. No where on the bottle was there any warning of the supplement's possible side effects.

There are now many safe alternatives to ephedra in the treatment of asthma. We also have a number or ways to treat seasonal allergies and colds that are safe and effective. I don't recommend the use of ephedra under any circumstances.