Weight-Loss Aids Bought on Internet Might Harm Your Heart

Pills, supplements have potentially dangerous ingredients, lack warning labels, study finds

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

Related Encyclopedia • Abdominoplasty • Acidophilus • Alzheimer's Disease • Aneurysms More... Related Healthscout Videos Nutrition and Cancer Nutrition and Osteoporosis Importance of Good Nutrition Controlling Incontinence More... Related Animations • Alzheimer's Disease Video Animation • Angioplasty • Animation: What is Hypertension? • Coronary Bypass Surgery More... Related Drug Information • Accupril • Actonel • Altace • Avapro More... Related News Articles • All Newborns Should Have Ears Screened, Task Force Says • Alzheimer's Research Brings Progress, Setbacks • A Better Blood Test for Heart Risk? • FDA Says It's Safe to Eat Tomatoes More...

THURSDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Weight-loss supplements widely available for purchase online often include ingredients that are potentially hazardous to your heart, and a new study shows the labels often don't include this warning.

One of the hazardous ingredients that was found in the products has been banned on the U.S. market since 2004, according to study author Dr. Alireza Nazeri, an internist and cardiology research fellow at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, in Houston.

Text Continues Below

---

The study was expected to be presented Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society's annual meeting, in San Francisco.

Nazeri and his colleagues reviewed the ingredients of 12 different brands of weight-loss supplements. They found the brands by entering the common search terms "diet pills" and "weight-loss supplements" into popular Internet search engines, including Google, MSN and Yahoo.

"We were trying to find out if the weight-loss supplements have any ingredients with life-threatening cardiac side effects," Nazeri said.

Next, they made a list of the ingredients on each label. In all, there were 60 different ingredients, for an average of 7.25 ingredients per bottle. Most were herbal extracts, while others were minerals, vitamins and other substances.

Next, the researchers scoured medical databases, including Medline, Pubmed and Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, to find out if there was any significant association between the ingredients and cardiac problems.

They identified 11 ingredients with at least one report of life-threatening cardiac side effects. Eight of the 12 brands contained a potentially hazardous ingredient.

To their surprise, the researchers found one brand included ma huang, also known as Chinese ephedra, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned it in 2004.

Page:  1 | 2 | Next >>