Hormonal
Dietary supplements containing ephedra alkaloids pose a serious health risk, causing adverse cardiovascular and central nervous system events including hypertension, stroke, seizures, and death, even in previously healthy individuals at low doses.
Avoid dietary supplements containing ephedra alkaloids (ma huang). These products have been linked to heart attacks, strokes, seizures, and death, even in healthy people taking low doses. The potential for severe, permanent injury or fatality outweighs any unproven weight loss or energy benefits.
The use of dietary supplements that contain ephedra alkaloids may pose a health risk to some persons... Ten events resulted in death, and 13 events produced permanent disability, representing 26 percent of the definite, probable, and possible cases.
Why this rating
Review of 140 FDA MedWatch reports with standardized causation assessment; limited by underreporting and lack of denominator data.
Source
Adverse Cardiovascular and Central Nervous System Events Associated with Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedra Alkaloids
Christine Haller et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2000
DOI 10.1056/nejm200012213432502
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