Students may use dietary supplements to stay awake, help them diet or increase their energy and stamina, not realizing that these products could adversely affect their health.
Some of the popular dietary products currently sweeping through consumer market include Metabolife, Metabolite, Diet Fuel, Ripped Fuel and Xenadrine.
Jacqueline Defouw, health educator at The University of Memphis, said she has seen many students come into the Student Health Center at The U of M with complications linked to the use of dietary supplements.
She said some have come in with high heart rates or irregular heart palpitations, and sometimes having a panic attack.
“I take them when I need a boost, especially when I’m pressed for time to complete my schoolwork,” said Jennifer Houck, a senior majoring in graphic design at The U of M.
Houck admitted however, that the adverse effects of taking dietary supplements as energy boosters often outweigh their benefits.
“They have caused me become irritable at times because I could not sleep and could not eat because it suppresses your appetite,” Houck said.
The main ingredient in many dietary supplements is ephedra, an herbal substance which acts as a stimulant, Defouw said. Ephedra causes the heart rate to increase immediately, and has been linked to major health problems in some people.
“I almost always have students coming in with problems having to do with ephedra,” Defouw said.
Students who have been taking products containing ephedra tend to have very high blood pressures, Defouw said. Defouw has been educating herself about ephedra use in order to inform students of health risk stemming from taking the supplements, which have become popular among students needing a boost as well as a those wanting to lose weight.
Clouding the picture, FDA officials have little control over the regulation of some supplements because they are manufactured outside of the U.S. and the FDA lacks the necessary resources to keep the drugs from seeping into the nation’s consumer market.
“Herbal supplements are not controlled by the FDA, and no scientific studies have been done to tell us what is safe,” Defouw said. “People definitely shouldn’t use ephedra with caffeine and aspirin.”
The FDA is not required by law to approve dietary supplements and other over-the-counter drugs for safety and effectiveness, according to their website. However, the FDA must prove that a dietary supplement is unsafe before it can take any action to restrict or remove the product from the marketplace.
In the past, the FDA has recommended no more than 8 mg of ephedra per dosage, and no more than 24 mg within a 24 hour period, Defouw said, though this recommendation was later withdrawn for review. Many dietary supplements contain 12 mg of ephedra per dose, and recommend up to 100 mg within 24 hours.
“If the person has any kind of a heart problem, ephedra use can cause serious health problems, even death,” Defouw said.
There have been 17 deaths and over 1000 emergency room visits due to ephedra complications, according to the campus wellness center website of the University of Central Florida. The most common health problems arising from ephedra use are stroke, heart attack, seizure, insomnia, high blood pressure and fast heartbeat.
Defouw said many ephedra-related deaths have involved college and professional athletes, and the FDA is currently looking into these cases.
