Ma Huang – Ephedra
Ma Huang, commonly referred to as Ephedra, was first used more than 5,000 years ago in Chinese medicine to treat asthma and hay fever. Today, Ephedra is used more for its aid in dieting and fat loss. There are risks associated with the drug and its effect on the cardiovascular system, especially when the drug is abused.
In sufficient quantities, the effects of Ephedra are similar to those of adrenaline. It stimulates the brain, increases heart rate and blood pressure and expands bronchial tubes (thus its use as an asthma treatment). Concerns were raised over the use of Ephedra and Ephedra based products over the past 10 to 15 years as there have been several high profile cases of death involving Ephedra and professional athletes.
Ephedra was banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) beginning in 2004, citing an unreasonable risk of illness or injury relating to its use.
Ephedrine, Ephedra’s alkaloid, can still be obtained over the counter in the United States. Many bodybuilders continue to use Ephedrine in an ECA stack (Ephedrine, Caffeine, Aspirin). Vasopro is a popular supplement designed for asthma that bodybuilders are purchasing after the ban.
Comment by raynor
I dont really believe too much the FDA says, because from what Ive seen, they are in the business, of selling drugs. They are not in the business of saving lives, such as many people think! Ephedra is in almost all of their cold and flu products, and is probably what actually makes their products work! The FDA is out too make money, and are very much comparable to the oil companies of the world, who basically can monopolize the industry, and get rich! The FDA releases products, that carry all sorts of side effects, including death! The problem is with Ephedra, they need it in their products, but cannot market it by itself, so they basically want to stop everyone else from being able to buy it! Ephedra works, for dieting, and a cure for colds as well as asthma! Just imagine how much money, the FDA would lose if everyone quit buying these high dollar diet pills, that they sell, and just used ephedra!