| Disease | FOR ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE IS INSUFFICIENT. USE OF EPHEDRA OR EPHEDRINE AND CAFFEINE IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF PSYCHIATRIC, AUTONOMIC, OR GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS, AND HEART PALPITAIONS.
DOCUMENTED TO ALLOW MEANINGFUL ASSESSMENT. EPHEDRINE AND EPHEDRA PROMOTE MODEST SHORT-TERM WT. LOSS(APPROX 0.9 KG/MO MORE THAN PLACEBO) IN CLINICAL TRIALS. THERE ARE NO DATA REGARDING LONG TERM WT. LOSS, AND EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT USE OF EPHEDRA
ODDS OF PSYCHIATRIC, AUTONOMIC, OR GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS, AND HEART PALPITATIONS. DATA ARE INSUFFICIENT TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT ADVERSE EVENTS OCCURING AT A RATE LESS THAN 1.0 PER THOUSAND. THE MAJORITY OF CASE REPORTS ARE INSUFFICIENTLY
NOT SUBSTANTIALLY ALTER THE LATTER 3 RESULTS. NO TRIALS OF EPHEDRA AND ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE WERE FOUND; 7 TRIALS OF EPHEDRINE WERE TOO HETEROGENIOUS TO SYNTHESIZE. SAFETY DATA FROM 50 TRIALS YIELDED ESTIMATES OF 2.2 TO 3.6 FOLD INCREASES IN
EPHEDRA(N=1), AND EPHEDRA AND HERBS CONTAINING CAFFEINE(N=4) YIELDED ESTIMATES OF WT. LOSS (MORE THAN PLACEBO) OF 0.6(95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL,0.2-1.0), 1.0(0.7-1.3), 0.8(0.4-1.2), AND 1.0(0.6-1.3) KG/MO, RESPECTIVELY. SENSITIVITY ANALYSES DID
TRIALS AND 65 CASE REPORTS WERE INCLUDED IN THE ADVERSE EVENTS ANALYSIS. NO WT. LOSS TRIAL ASSESSED DURATION OF TREATMENT GREATER THAN 6 MONTHS. POOLED RESULTS FOR TRIALS COMPARING PLACEBO WITH EPHEDRINE (N=5), EPHEDRINE AND CAFFEINE(N=12),
THAT EPHEDRA OR EPHEDRINE WAS CONSUMED WITHIN 24 HRS PRIOR TO AN ADVERSE EVENT OR THAT EPHEDRINE OR AN ASSOCIATED PRODUCT WAS FOUND IN BLOOD OR URINE, AND THAT OTHER POTENTIAL CAUSES HAD BEEN EXCLUDED. OF THE 530 ARTICLES SCREENED, 52 CONTROLLED
AND CASE REPORTS OF ADVERSE EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH SUCH USE. ELIGIBLE STUDIES FOR WT LOSS WERE HUMAN STUDIES WITH AT LEAST 8 WKS OF FOLLOW-UP; AND FOR ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE, THOSE HAVING NO MINIMUM FOLLOW-UP. ELIGIBLE CASE REPORTS DOCUMENTED
A META-ANALYSIS TO ASSESS THE DATA ON EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF EPHEDRA AND EPHEDRINE USED FOR WT. LOSS AND ENHANCED ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE. ELIGIBLE STUDIES WERE CONTROLLED TRIALS OF EPHEDRA OR EPHEDRINE USED FOR WT. LOSS OR ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE |