Chinese Slimming Capsules: Are They Safe?
by Lisa Anderson - May 3, 2009
Today, obesity is prevalent among majority of men and women. People are looking for some quick solutions to get rid of the extra body weight they are carrying around.
Chinese herbal slimming capsules offer one such quick-fix solution, claiming to be one of the best seller treatments compared to other natural weight loss supplements. They assert that the product lowers your appetite and increases your metabolic rate. They claim to provide quality nutritional supplements.
But are they really safe to consume and pose no risk to your health?
Here’s what two premier health organizations from different part of the world found out:
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
An executive agency of the Department of Health, UK, is warning consumers to exercise caution while considering traditional Chinese medicines to facilitate weight loss, since some of them may be illegally adulterated or contaminated with pharmaceutical drugs or toxic herbal ingredients.
This is not the first time the MHRA has warned about the safety of Chinese medicines sold in the UK.
"We recognize that many consumers value traditional Chinese medicines but they should be aware that we continue to find products manufactured to low quality standards that contain potentially harmful substances," said Roy Alder, director of executive support at the MHRA.
The slimming capsules were suspected to be the cause of the following health risks:
a) Liver failure: These capsules were suspected of having caused a case of irreversible liver failure in the UK. The product is suspected to illegally contain undeclared Nitrosofenfluramine, a drug closely related to the prescription-only fenfluramine that is known to be toxic to the liver.
b) Raise blood Pressure:Some of these products have been found to contain prescription-only medicines like sibutramine and methylphenidate, both of which may raise blood pressure.
c) Kidney failure:A substance banned in the UK called aristolochia that has been linked with kidney failure and cancer, has also been found in herbals.
Deutsches Ärzteblatt International
The poison emergency centers in the German cities of Freiburg and Göttingen have registered a total of 17 patients with health problems after taking Chinese slimming capsules.
On examination, the product has been found to contain the active substance sibutramine, which resembles amphetamine and which inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain. The sibutramine dose in each capsule corresponded to twice the daily maximum dose of the prescription drug in Germany.
Fifteen women and two men exhibited symptoms of poisoning, including nausea, tachycardia, headache, agitation, dyspnea, and insomnia. Severe symptoms of poisoning mainly occurred in combination with other drugs.
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on May 4, 2009 - 17:05 | Write to author: Lisa Anderson |
