{"id":47231,"date":"2003-04-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-04-14T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2003\/04\/14\/unmc-associate-professor-ephedrines-risks-outweighpotential-benefits\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:44:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:44:59","slug":"unmc-associate-professor-ephedrines-risks-outweighpotential-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2003\/04\/14\/unmc-associate-professor-ephedrines-risks-outweighpotential-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC associate professor: Ephedrine&#8217;s risks outweigh\n\npotential benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\"><p>The side effects of ephedrine have federal lawmakers concerned right<\/p>\n<p>now, and thats a good thing, said a veteran UNMC College of Pharmacy faculty<\/p>\n<p>member.<\/p>\n<p>I wouldnt recommend taking ephedrine. The risks are significantly<\/p>\n<p>higher than any potential gain that you might get from the drug, said<\/p>\n<p>Jeff Baldwin, Pharm.D., an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at<\/p>\n<p>UNMC.<\/p>\n<p>Ephedrine and its dangers have been in the national spotlight for the<\/p>\n<p>past few years. The drug has played a role in the deaths of college football<\/p>\n<p>players Rashidi Wheeler of Northwestern, Eraste Autin of Florida and Devaughn<\/p>\n<p>Darling of Florida State; Minnesota Viking lineman Korey Stringer; and,<\/p>\n<p>most recently, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. Each athlete died<\/p>\n<p>during a workout, reportedly after taking ephedrine. The drug, a stimulant,<\/p>\n<p>reportedly gives athletes an extra boost, or edge, during performance.<\/p>\n<p>Theres no middle ground for some athletes using ephedrine; they reason<\/p>\n<p>that if one is good, four or five must be better. Theres a tendency to<\/p>\n<p>take too much, Dr. Baldwin said. Some people take ephedrine to get a<\/p>\n<p>high or feeling of wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p>The herbal stimulant ephedra (or ma huang), which contains ephedrine<\/p>\n<p>as a major ingredient, has been used in China to treat bronchial asthma<\/p>\n<p>for more than 5,000 years. In the last 20 years, however, ephedrine has<\/p>\n<p>ceased being prescribed for asthma as less toxic and more effective therapies<\/p>\n<p>have become available. Still, ephedrine found a new niche in nutritional<\/p>\n<p>supplements and in the illicit drug market.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that ephedrine and its close relative, pseudoephedrine, a decongestant<\/p>\n<p>found in medications such as Sudafed, are used to make amphetamines, is<\/p>\n<p>one of Dr. Baldwins concerns.<\/p>\n<p>For some people, it may be a gateway drug to substances such as methamphetamine,<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Baldwin said. Ive run into recovering methamphetamine addicts who<\/p>\n<p>started on ephedrine, then graduated to meth.<\/p>\n<p>He said that even though customers are supposed to be able to buy, at<\/p>\n<p>one time, a very limited amount of medications containing pseudoephedrine,<\/p>\n<p>the principal precursor in the production of methamphetamine, there are<\/p>\n<p>numerous ways around this, such as shopping in multiple pharmacies; multiple<\/p>\n<p>customers purchasing the product; theft; and, especially, importation from<\/p>\n<p>countries such as Mexico. And, diet supplements containing ephedrine can<\/p>\n<p>still be sold legally, even though attempts to curtail their use in Nebraska<\/p>\n<p>began more than five years ago. In Nebraska, the substance can be sold,<\/p>\n<p>but only for weight loss. It technically cant be used to improve athletic<\/p>\n<p>performance or to get high.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the propensity of users to graduate to an illegal and more devastating<\/p>\n<p>drug, ephedrine should be outlawed because of its side effects, Dr. Baldwin<\/p>\n<p>said.<\/p>\n<p>Normally, users may lose 8 or 9 pounds with the drug, but they run<\/p>\n<p>the risk of increasing their blood pressure and other complications.<\/p>\n<p>Obese people tend to already have high blood pressure, Dr. Baldwin<\/p>\n<p>said. One reason people taking ephedrine are dying is that they are having<\/p>\n<p>heart attacks and strokes. There are betters ways to lose weight, such<\/p>\n<p>as proper diet and exercise.<\/p>\n<p>Those who insist on using ephedrine for weight loss, Dr. Baldwin said,<\/p>\n<p>should stay within the recommended dosage and check with their physician<\/p>\n<p>before they begin taking the drug.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The side effects of ephedrine have federal lawmakers concerned right now, and thats a good thing, said a veteran UNMC College of Pharmacy faculty member. I wouldnt recommend taking ephedrine. The risks are significantly higher than any potential gain that you might get from the drug, said Jeff Baldwin, Pharm.D., an Associate Professor of Pharmacy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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