Ephedra effects are far-reaching

Ballplayers looking for an edge aren't the only ones taking dietary supplements containing the controversial herb ephedra.

Truck drivers in for a long haul. Bodybuilders wanting more defined muscles. Young women trying to shed a few pounds. College students cramming for final exams.

All of these types of people use ephedra in one form or another, whether it's called Truckers Luv It, Metabolife or Ripped Fuel.

"There's lots and lots of supplements that it's found in," said Staci Nix, director of the University of Utah Nutrition Clinic.

And there are lots and lots of Americans using ephedra, perhaps some 12 million to 17 million per year, according to the Ephedra Education Council. That amounts to about 5 percent of the U.S. population.

Loren Israelsen, executive director of the Utah Natural Products Alliance, said he expects Utahns would be consuming it at about the same rate.

As the federal government Friday began building a case to ban the popular herb, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said he doesn't know why anyone would take ephedra.

The high-profile death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last month renewed the debate over the pros and cons of ephedra. Bechler died a day after collapsing with heatstroke during spring training in Florida. Food and Drug Administration investigators are trying determine if an ephedra-based diet pill, Xenadrine RFA-1, played a role.

The FDA has again proposed strong new warning labels that the pills can cause heart attacks and strokes or even kill. The powerful dietary supplements lobby derailed that effort in 1997.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has been a champion of the dietary supplement industry, applauded the FDA and Department of Health and Human Services Friday.

"Today's action reassures me that it will now be a priority of HHS and FDA to police the marketplace and apply the law as necessary," Hatch said. "Today's announcement appears to be a reasonable, if long overdue, step in designing science-based rules pertaining to the use of a product about which public concern has been expressed for many, many years.

Thompson said an outright ban of ephedra remains possible, and the new FDA actions would serve to make a case. Meantime, he advised people — particularly athletes and exercise lovers — to stay away from ephedra. He cited a recent Rand Corp. review of the herb that found it does nothing to enhance sports performance and causes only temporary weight loss.