From what certainly appears to be most (read:only) fair and balanced reporting on Ephedra sinica and the recent "ban" by the FDA:
When U.S. regulators said they would ban the use of ephedra in weight-loss supplements on Tuesday they allowed an exemption for practitioners of Chinese medicine who have been using the herb for thousands of years to treat ailments ranging from asthma to fevers.Hooray for a voice of sanity in the din. And hooray to Bernie for the link. Posted by Evo Terra at January 04, 2004 07:00 PM | TrackBack (0)... when taken properly under a health practitioners supervision, the herb -- also known as ma huang -- is good medicine, according to several trained Chinese herbalists.
Ephedra can help people overcome asthma attacks, colds and other health problems, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine said on Tuesday after U.S. health officials banned ephreda-based weight-loss pills citing risks of stroke and heart-attack.
Ephedra "should not be in dietary weight loss products. That's not the proper use of it," said Robert Wright, a licensed acupuncturist who has a private practice in Napa, California.
I am very disgusted with the FDA. I can't believe they banned the use of the natural form of ephedra. Have they said anything about banning the chemical form-ephederine? Does anyone understand that the chemical form and the naturally-occuring form are two totally different things? I took an herbal supplement-Tri-Chromaleane for 8 years(which contained the natural form of ephedra, not ephederine) with absolutely no negative side effects. I was more focused, had more energy-not nervous energy like with caffeine, and my allergies were more in-check. Is there anything people can do to boycott this ban?
Posted by: Christina L. Viers on January 29, 2004 01:51 PM