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EPHEDRA HERB - A Stateside Parole!
Ephedra (Ephedra nevadensis) USA Photo © Deb Jackson & Nature's Herbal “Everything’s up to date in Salt Lake City They've gone about as fer as they can go …” On Thursday 14th April 2005, in Utah’s Salt Lake City, (City of the Mormons) from whence Ephedra got one its common names ‘Mormon tea’1, federal Judge Tena Campbell struck down the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) ban on supplements containing Ephedra.2 The FDA published the final rule 12th April, 2004, that banned the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids. The judge ruled in favour of a Utah supplement company that challenged the FDA’s year-old ban, saying that the FDA had not met, “the burden of proof that any specific dosage of the controversial weight-loss drug Ephedra was dangerous.” Judge Campbell’s order prevents the FDA from stopping ‘Nutraceutical’ from selling its product and sent the case back to the FDA for a determination of what are safe and dangerous levels of ephedrine. The FDA had not proved that its arbitrarily-set dosages of 10 milligrams (mg) or less of ephedrine-alkyloid dietary supplements (EDS) were dangerous. In fact, Judge Campbell said in her ruling that the FDA had rested its entire case on research offered by the agency and its advisory committee that could not determine what a safe level of an EDS would be. She wrote in her opinion: “A negative inference is different from the affirmative proof required … “There is not sufficient evidence in the administrative record to establish that the risks identified by the FDA are associated with the intake of low dose EDS.”
The Herb Ephedra (Chinese ‘Ma Huang’) is an ancient herb that has been used for thousands of years in China, and historically elsewhere, that contains the principal active ingredient ephedrine, which is an amphetamine-like compound that can powerfully stimulate the nervous system and heart. Ephedrine alkaloids are found naturally in some plants, including the Ephedra species. The alkaloid Ephedrine from the Chinese Ephedra (Ephedra sinica) was first discovered, isolated and characterized, in 1887 by the Japanese Chemist N. M. Nagai. This was followed by a series of research papers on the pharmacological properties of ephedrine published in 1924 by K. K. Chen and C. F. Schmidt of the Peking Union Medical College, China. Ephedra became the first Chinese herbal remedy to yield a synthetic active constituent, Ephedrine.(Para.)9 The Eli Lily pharmaceutical company began marketing ephedrine to the West as a therapy for asthma, and a stimulant to the central nervous system. In 1927 Ephedrine was admitted as a standard drug by the American Medical Association and used as a synthesized drug. It was not until the 1950s that pronounced side effects of ephedrine emerged (increased blood pressure and heart palpitations), which led pharmaceutical companies to switch to Ephedra’s pseudoephedrine.(Para)10 The leaves and stems of Ephedra (E. sinica) contain many potentially active compounds, but it is the proto-alkaloids ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and norpsueudoephedrine that have been isolated and used for their particular medical properties as asthma and cough medications.(Para)11 Employed as a bronchodilator and decongestant, ephedrine is used to relieve nasal congestion originating from allergic conditions, e.g. hay fever, or from bacaterial or viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. It may be used as well to raise blood pressure. But, synthesized ephedrine also resulted in the discovery of an entire new class of drugs, (amphetamines) and is used in the production of methamphetamine. Although this makes Ephedra an exceptional herb in what it can provide naturally and synthetically as a medicine, this psychoactive aspect of the herb with its roots in the ancient past led to its abuse in the ‘wild child’ days of the 1960s. However, in herbal medicine, herb Ephedra has been used traditionally in the UK primarily for respiratory problems, as a decongestant, and mainly for asthma. But times have changed, recently in America and elsewhere Ephedra products have been marketed as dietary supplements to promote weight loss, increase energy, and enhance athletic performance. Some may argue that this ‘change of use’ of Ephedra herb to promote weight loss may not the best use of Ephedra as an adrenaline-like stimulant that excites the central nervous system, speeds metabolism and increases the rate at which a person burns calories, and that this use has generated problems not encountered before. Some argue ferociously that some ill effects have nothing to do with Ephedra at all, but rather the adoption in the West of artificial sweeteners, namely Aspartame, and the combination of these two items used in tandem, to a great extant by slimmers, is a major cause of some ill effects attributed to Ephedra. For example, in 2003, a research paper said of Aspartame: “Up to now the only safety concern about aspartame, which received valid scientific proofs, is pro-seizure action of its excessive intake. In patients with epilepsy, excessive intake of aspartame can decrease the threshold for seizures or prolong them once they appear.” It concluded that aspartame should not be used indiscriminately: “Based on detailed analysis of published studies on safety of aspartame, it should not be restricted, but used in recommended amounts.”13 Others draw attention to the politics of Govt. and the Pharmaceutical Industry or to sheer commercial gain. Weight loss product manufacturers know that Ephedra has thermogenic qualities, so it is very effective for weight loss, and in most cases, the ephedrine is isolated and boosted so that the end result is people are taking a dangerously high amount. “Further, when ephedrine is isolated and boosted, it becomes an herbal ‘drug’.”14 Yet little or no attention is paid to Ephedra’s nutriceutical value. It only grows in highly mineralized soil and its minerals are bioavailable and can be assimilated into the body and used without side effects. It contains up to 10% copper in mineral content and amounts of zinc, magnesium, manganese, selenium, iron and potassium as well as vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), A and C.15 Regarding the Utah Ephedra Reprieve, it is too early to tell whether or when the product will be back in stores and on the shelves. The judge’s ruling is not likely to bring all Ephedra products back onto the market either, since it specifically focused on low-ephedra supplements.
So what is covered by the US FDA Ban? As may be seen, the ban luckily does not include traditional Chinese herbal remedies or generally does not apply to herbal teas. “Essentially all currently marketed dietary supplements that contain a source of ephedrine alkaloids, such as ephedra, ma huang, Sida cordifolia, and pinellia, are affected by this rule. The rule does not pertain to traditional Chinese herbal remedies. It generally doesn’t apply to products like herbal teas that are regulated as conventional foods. In addition, products regulated as drugs that contain chemically synthesized ephedrine are not dietary supplements and not covered by this rule. These include drugs used for the short-term treatment of asthma, bronchitis, and allergic reactions.” American Botanical Council Recommends Cooperative Industry/Government Review of Safety and Benefits of Herb Ephedra “ABC's policy is that ephedra products should be properly labeled with adequate warnings that offer a full disclosure of potential risks. Herb industry trade associations initiated voluntary label warnings on ephedra in 1994. In October, a coalition of industry associations formally petitioned FDA to accept the industry's label warning as formal policy. The warning says that persons with the following conditions should not use the herb without medical advice: pregnant and nursing women, people with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, glaucoma, psychiatric conditions, depression, children under 18, and people using various over-the-counter and prescription drugs.”16 Whatever the overall outcome, herbal manufacturers both sides of the Herring Pond will be watching and waiting for any FDA developments with baited breath.
Ephedra – A Very Ancient Plant and Medicine. Ephedra, Ephedraceae (Ephedra) family, is classified as a Gymnosperm.5 It is a primitive plant, and like the herb Horsetail (Equisetum) whose jointed stem structure its branches resemble, is a botanically important relic of a very distant geological past. Some botantists infer that Ephedra “represents the basal group in gnetotype [genotype6] evolution”.7
Ephedra (Ephedra torreyana: Ephedraceae) After 19th Century Botanist John Torrey Common name: Mormon Tea Courtesy of Al Schneider: Among plants found by excavation of the 60,000 years-old site in Shanidar, a Neanderthal grave of a Shanidar IV individual (Iraq) included Ephedra (Ephedra altissima).8 A research paper was published on this find for the purpose of theoretical analysis to evaluate the objective healing activity of the flowers, which revealed that “Shanidar IV flowers posses considerable therapeutic effects with marked medical activity, which could be an intentional reason for the selection of the flowers in Middle Paleolithic Shanidar Neanderthals.” It has been written also; “although the advent of horticulture may have been brought about in part by the desire for psychoactive substances, the use of mind-altering plants not doubt goes back to primeval times. With the possible exception of the use of the stimulating plant Ephedra by Neanderthals, there is no concrete evidence for the use of psychoactive plants in the Palaeolithic period.”17 Ephedra comes from the Pleistocene Epoch17 and can be can be traced to the Ancient Levant - the region designated to be the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea: Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan.18 In a book by a textile enthusiast about remains found in the Tarim Basin of Western China, which had a permanent settlement prior to 2000BC, we find that ancient gravediggers left gifts, such as ‘a bag-shaped basket of wheat, a comb, or small bundles of ephedra twigs.’19 In another remains, ‘one edge of a shroud formed into a pouch that held twigs of ephedra’20;Twigs of it also occurred in graves excavated in the 1980s at Qawrrighul.21 The book looks into the significance of ephedra in the burials and the whole issue of the sacred drink haoma (Persian) or soma (Sanskrit) and the suggested use of ephedra with an hallucinogen, the ephedra being taken to stay awake for the journey into the overworld.22 However, use of Ephedra may not have been solely oral even way back. Burning plants to inhale their smoke benefits is something that may have occurred similarly in the UK in Wilsthire some 250,000 and 300,000 years ago in the early Stone Age. Later the ancient Zoastrians more than 7,000 years ago used fire as a symbol. 23 There’s no smoke without fire! One of the earliest uses of herbs and other aromatics was Par fum (through smoke) and fumigation was used for eradication of diseases. The simplest and most natural route of drug delivery to the lungs is the inhaled one. Discorides during the first century prescribed inhaled fumigation.24 Holy men everywhere knew the use of pipes and ‘smudging’ to inhale herbs. Forerunners of nebulizers, for example, poisonous Datura (Datura stramonium) was used in pipes and fumigations to treat asthma. Though highly toxic, it was imported from 1803 as a therapeutic for use in cigarettes used by asthmatics until 1992. With the discovery of adrenaline, Ephedrine aerosols were also employed. One might speculate that this use of Ephedra by our earliest counterparts may well have been discovered and used. For example, Bernard Sergent (the Genesis of India – Tracing Aryan Migrants) notes the similarity with a fire temple found in Togolok, Margiana, where the fire altar gained fame by yielding races of a plant used in the Soma (Iranian: Haoma) sacrifice. Laboratory analysis in Moscow showed this to be Ephedra.25 Russian archaeologists also discovered large-scale Iranian fire temples, dated to the first millennium BC, in the Kara Kum desert region of western Central Asia which contained the remains of cannabis, opium and Ephedra in ritual vessels.26 To cap it all, in June 2002 it was reported that a joint expedition of Russian and Uzbek archaeologists discovered several ancient pyramids that may be at least 2,700 years old in a remote mountainous area in the Kashkadaryin and Samarkand regions in south Uzbekistan. Most of the artefacts Fred Hiebert found, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, remain in Turkmenistan. However he has on display several artefacts including a bone pipe carved into a little stylized human figure. Near the pipe, you’ve guessed it, Hiebert found remains of the herb Ephedra.27 Even the discovery of Ephederine may not be at all new: “A recent Chinese author, Li Ch'iao-p'ing points out that Chinese inventions opened up new fields of chemical manufacture in early times, but then remained stationary for centuries. One of their earlier contributions to medicine was the extraction of ephedrine from the herb Ephedra, a process credited to a very famous Emperor Shen Nung, who is supposed to have lived somewhere between 3000 and 2200 B.C.”28 Ephedra truly is a very ancient plant and herbal medicine. Why bother with Herbal Plant History? The healing properties of plants have not changed. What was a healing plant thousands of years ago is still a healing herb today, whether it is used or abused. Ephedra’s 5,000 year-old Chinese ‘tea’ and pills for the common cold, coughs, asthma, headaches and hay fever use comes from the ancient legacy of prehistoric humans, who not only used herbs for their hallucinatory effects but knew their more subtle healing benefits. Just because some modern scientific new or potentially new uses may cause problems, it is no reason to abandon or to lose an historically provenanced herb. An herb’s history is its natural Advocate for its medicinal value. Where else would the Pharmaceutical Industry have got such a high percentage of their herb derived ‘drugs’ from, albeit nowadays synthetic adaptation causes many side effects not existing in the natural herb when used correctly. At least 25% of our conventional prescription drugs are derived directly or indirectly from plants, wherein of these 25% of drugs lay the template for 90% of modern synthetic drugs.29 How else does Science get its information, if not from first from History and anecdotal evidence, case work, then tests and trails to develop drugs for mainstream Medicine? That the Industry avidly sends ‘collectors’ into the Rainforests of the world to find new plants and spend £millions to develop ‘drugs’ from those natural plants speaks for itself. Whatever is amiss with some uses of Ephedra in the 21st Century, it is not down to the herb itself and it requires the same reverence and respect today as when found in a 60,000 year-old Neolithic grave to be used for the benefit of mankind. References: 1. http://www.utah.com/cities/slc_history.htm Salt Lake City was founded on July 24, 1847, by a group of Mormon pioneers. (Mormons are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) The pioneers, led by Brigham Young, were the first non-Indians to settle permanently in the valley. 2. ‘Utah judge strikes down ephedra ban’ by Mark Thiessen, Associated Press Writer, 15th April, 2005. AP 3. ‘Ephedra Ban Lifted by US District Judge’: http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/525167/main.html 4. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/alerts/ephedra/consumeradvisory.htm (See US FDA Statement: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01050.html - “FDA Announces Rule Prohibiting Sale of Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedrine Alkaloids Effective April 12” (2004). 5. Gymnosperm: woody cone-bearing plant: a woody vascular plant such as a conifer, cycad, or ginkgo in which the ovules are carried naked on the scales of a cone. 6. Genotype: the genetic makeup of an organism, as opposed to its physical characteristics (phenotype). A genetic group of organisms that share a similar genetic makeup. 7. Mormon Tea (EPHEDRA species) http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/trees&shrubs/ephedra/ephedra.html 8. ‘Medicinal plants in a Middle Paleolithic grave Shanidar IV?’ Lietava J. Medical Faculty Hospital, Medical Faculty of Comenius Uv., Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. J Ethopharmacol 1992 Jan:35(3):263-6. 9. (Para) www.metagenics.com 10. (Para) Ibid. 11. (Para) Ibid. 12. Amphetamine: A colourless, volatile liquid, used as a central nervous system stimulant in the treatment of certain conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and narcolepsy, and abused illegally as a stimulant. 13. ‘Controversies with aspartame’. [Article in Serbian] Jankoic SM. Med Pegl. 2003:56 Suppl 1:27-9. And article: http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/12/30/fda And ‘Aspartame Disease: An FDA-Approved Epidemic’ by H J Roberts, MD, FACP, FCCP - http://www.mercola.com/2004/jan/7/aspartame_disease.htm 14. ‘The politics behind the FDA’s recent banning of ephedra’ by Jenny Thompson of the Health Sciences Institute. http://proliberty.com/observer/20040104.htm http://proliberty.com/observer/20040104.htm 15. Idaho Observer, January 2004. ‘The FDA’s Latest Scapegoat: Ephedra – The many benefits of herbal Ephedra’ by Ingri Cassel. http://proliberty.com/observer/20040104.htm http://proliberty.com/observer/20040104.htm 16. http://www.herbalgram.org/default.asp?c=122100press 17. The Lost Civilization of the ‘Stone Age by Richard Rudgley (1999). Palaeolithic period: belonging to the period when humans used tools and weapons made of stone. Sometimes called the Old Stone Age. Neolithic period: belonging to the period when humans used tools and weapons made of stone and had just developed farming. 18. Pleistecene Epoch: Geologic period relating to or used to describe the earlier epoch of the Quaternary Period in the Cenozoic Era, characterized by the disappearance of the continental ice sheets and the appearance of humans. Of or belonging to the geologic time, rock series, or sedimentary deposits of the earlier of the two epochs of the Quaternary Period, characterized by the alternate appearance and worldwide spread of hominids, and the extinction of numerous land mammals, such as the mammoths, mastodons, and saber-toothed tigers. Quarternary Period: ‘Age of Man’ or in the last 2 million years. 19. Late Pleistocene Summary Chapter 1 (Pages 21-25). http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/91.html 20. ‘The Mummies of Urumchi’ by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, W.N. Norton and Company, New York, 1999. [Chapter information from the Review] Chapter Four, “The Beauty of Loulan”. 21. Ibid. Chapter Five, “The Early Explorers” (Marc Aurel Stein) 22. Ibid. Chapter eight, “The Oasis Hoppers and Their Kin” Soma: An intoxicating or hallucinogenic beverage, used as an offering to the Hindu gods and consumed by participants in Vedic ritual sacrifices. 23. ‘Man’s Earliest Use of Fire Found in Wiltshire’ 24th February 2004 http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/features/fire_found.shtml 24. ‘A History of nebulization’ Dessanges JF. Laboratoire de Physiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles Respiratoires, CHU Chochin, AP-HP, Universite Paris V, Paris, France. J Aerosol Med. 2001 Spring: 14(1): 65-71. 25. http://www.bharatvani.org/books/ait/ch53.htm And also in ‘The genesis of India according to Bernard Sergent’ Reviews – 5. Some new arguments: 5.3. THE ARCHAELOGICAL EVIDENCE – 5.3.1. Tracing the Aryan migrants. 26. ‘The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances’ by Richard Rudgley Little, Brown and Company (1998). http://520044201022.bei.t-online.de/haschreden.html 27. Egyptian style pyramids discovered in remote region of Uzbekistan! By Yelena Kieleva (Translated by Vera Solovieva) - ‘Pravda[ 19th June 2002. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/707978/posts 28. ‘The Technology of Hamitic People: Chapter 3: Achievements of Ancient High Civilizations. http://www.custance.org/old/noah/ch3t.html Ref: Needham, J., op.cit. (ref. #76), Vol., 1, 231. 29. Quoted from Varro Tyler Ph.D., Prof. Emeritus at Purdue Uv., West Lafayette, Ind. ‘Why Herbs Work’ by Jack Challem: http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/why_herbs_work.html
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