Diet pills from Brazil pose health risks: report
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new report highlights the potentially serious health risks of using imported Brazilian-made prescription diet pills that combine amphetamines and other prescription medicines, such as anti-anxiety agents and antidepressants.
Banned amphetamine-based weight loss pills are easily available via the Internet and are being illicitly imported into the United States, warns the report’s author, Massachusetts-based internist Dr. Pieter A. Cohen from Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Cohen became concerned about the pills’ use when he noticed that many patients were experiencing unexplained chest pain and other symptoms, a statement from Cambridge Alliance explains. Eventually, some of these patients admitted that they were using the imported diet pills.
In the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Cohen describes one patient — a 26-year-old woman — who made several trips to her doctor complaining of chest pain, palpitations, headaches, insomnia, nausea and fatigue.
Her symptoms started soon after she began taking Brazilian-made diet pills in an effort to lose weight after her daughter was born. Amphetamines (stimulants) and benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety drugs) were detected in her urine and the specific stimulant fenproporex, which is banned in the US, and the anti-anxiety drug chlordiazepoxide, were identified in her diet pills.
After the woman lost 30 pounds, she stopped taking the pills and her symptoms disappeared, although she said she had cravings for the diet pills. When the woman started to regain the lost weight, she restarted the diet pills at which point her symptoms returned.
Another patient, a 38-year-old municipal truck driver who admitted to using imported diet pills, was suspended from work after testing positive for amphetamine on a routine occupational drug screen. Fenproporex and the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) were identified in his pills. While taking the pills he experienced insomnia and palpitations. He reported losing 12 pounds in 2 weeks.
In both cases, according to Cohen, the pills were acquired from an acquaintance and written on the pill vials were another patient’s name, a physician’s name and a pharmacist’s name, as well as a regional council of pharmacists’ license number.
“Since the pills are prescribed by physicians, some people assume they must be safe,” Cohen said in a statement. “In fact, since the labels are misleading, people have no idea what dangerous cocktail of medications they are actually using.”
In Brazil, prescriptions for these “compounded” diet pills are usually obtained from doctors in private practices who often market themselves as obesity experts, Cohen also notes. However, “none of the medications included in these diet pills are indicated for the treatment of obesity according to commonly accepted practice guidelines.”
SOURCE: Journal of General Internal Medicine, December 2008.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
If you are considering a new weight loss program you need to be sure that the diet is safe, diet pills are one of the largest weight loss fads– and some people have been hurt because they chose to take the wrong diet pills. Before you start popping pills to help you lose weight, do
Full Post: Safe Diet Pills - Weight Loss Pills to Help You Lose Weight Safely
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One question that’s frequently asked among those who are currently on a weight loss program is whether or not weight loss pills are going to be worth their money. Will they actually improve the fat loss results they are seeing or will purchasing weight loss pills just burn a whole in their pocket? In order to effectively
Full Post: Weight Loss Pills - Do Weight Loss Pills Really Work?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Being overweight is not only bad for your health, it can be very traumatic emotionally. Like it or not, people look at you differently when your are overweight. You may have been heavy for the best part of your life, or recently started putting on the pounds. What makes matters worse is when you are
Full Post: Do Weight Loss Pills Really Work? The Secret is Out
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are thousands of products on the market claiming they’ll help you burn fat and lose weight. However, you may be wondering if any of them really work. Are there weight loss pills out there that have been proven to work, or are they just a waste of time and money? Unfortunately, the majority of products
Full Post: Can You Lose Weight by Taking a Pill? Here s a Close Look at the Best Diet Pills
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ads seem so promising: “Lose Weight Off Your Hips”, they proclaim - and yet so often, they fail to work for you. Have you just given up on this dream? Don’t! There are real easy ways for you to make this dream a reality. Here are some suggestions that work. How to Lose Weight Off
Full Post: How to Lose Weight Off Your Hips