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American Morning
'House Call'
Aired January 21, 2004 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The FDA's decision to ban the popular dietary supplement Ephedra may signal an increased government scrutiny of herbal products.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us here now, details on this.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Does this surprise you at all? I mean, Ephedra is certainly in the crosshairs of the FDA. Now several of the other alternatives as well. Not a big surprise there. I want to talk about some of them. But also mention that there was a speech by the FDA commissioner, Mark McConnell (ph), basically citing, giving a warning, a shot across the bow to some of these other manufacturers sometime in making some of these other Ephedra-like alternatives.
A couple of them I want to talk about specifically, because we've mentioned them before. Bitter orange -- bitter orange is a supplement. It's a Chinese herb that actually works in many ways very similar to the way that Ephedra works. Why is it on the suspicious list? Well, it contains a compound known as Xenaphrine. It speeds up your metabolism, which is similar to how Ephedra works, not as potent though, increases your heart rate, also increases your blood pressure.
There's also another alternative out there as well, known as aristolochic acid. And basically, the way that this works very similar as well, speeds up metabolism, the FDA concerned about this particular one, because it might also cause kidney damage. That's an FDA warning.
One final one, let me mention as well, usnic acid. And I say these names. People haven't heard a lot of these names yet, but you probably will, because these are the ephedra alternatives. Again, the FDA warning, linked to serious liver toxicity as well, so some concerns about these.
COLLINS: Yes, Certainly. But you know, looking it seems like it took the FDA quite a while to step in here with these bans.
GUPTA: It's interesting as well. You know, 1994, there was actually an act passed. It's called the Bushay (ph) Act, actually looking at the supplement industry overall, and it said basically, and it's interesting, that supplements can basically come to market, and they can only be taken off market if they're proven to be dangerous. That's very different than prescription medications, which have to prove that they're safe before they get on market. And maybe some reversal of that now with Ephedra, maybe some other alternatives as well. COLLINS: OK, we'll be tracking that for you.
GUPTA: Yes, interesting...
COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Dr. Gupta.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 21, 2004 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The FDA's decision to ban the popular dietary supplement Ephedra may signal an increased government scrutiny of herbal products.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us here now, details on this.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Does this surprise you at all? I mean, Ephedra is certainly in the crosshairs of the FDA. Now several of the other alternatives as well. Not a big surprise there. I want to talk about some of them. But also mention that there was a speech by the FDA commissioner, Mark McConnell (ph), basically citing, giving a warning, a shot across the bow to some of these other manufacturers sometime in making some of these other Ephedra-like alternatives.
A couple of them I want to talk about specifically, because we've mentioned them before. Bitter orange -- bitter orange is a supplement. It's a Chinese herb that actually works in many ways very similar to the way that Ephedra works. Why is it on the suspicious list? Well, it contains a compound known as Xenaphrine. It speeds up your metabolism, which is similar to how Ephedra works, not as potent though, increases your heart rate, also increases your blood pressure.
There's also another alternative out there as well, known as aristolochic acid. And basically, the way that this works very similar as well, speeds up metabolism, the FDA concerned about this particular one, because it might also cause kidney damage. That's an FDA warning.
One final one, let me mention as well, usnic acid. And I say these names. People haven't heard a lot of these names yet, but you probably will, because these are the ephedra alternatives. Again, the FDA warning, linked to serious liver toxicity as well, so some concerns about these.
COLLINS: Yes, Certainly. But you know, looking it seems like it took the FDA quite a while to step in here with these bans.
GUPTA: It's interesting as well. You know, 1994, there was actually an act passed. It's called the Bushay (ph) Act, actually looking at the supplement industry overall, and it said basically, and it's interesting, that supplements can basically come to market, and they can only be taken off market if they're proven to be dangerous. That's very different than prescription medications, which have to prove that they're safe before they get on market. And maybe some reversal of that now with Ephedra, maybe some other alternatives as well. COLLINS: OK, we'll be tracking that for you.
GUPTA: Yes, interesting...
COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Dr. Gupta.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
