Can you buy ma huang in the United States?
ANSWER: Ephedra sinica, the herb also known as Ma Huang, is the one that was outlawed by the FDA and can no longer be legally sold as a dietary supplement.
Is Ma Huang still available?
Still, due to safety concerns, dietary supplements containing ephedrine — but not necessarily other compounds in ephedra — are currently banned in the United States and elsewhere.
Is Ma Huang legal in Canada?
No – due to concerns that Ephedra/ephedrine can be altered to produce certain “street” drugs. In the interest of public safety, importing or reselling ephedra/ephedrine products is illegal unless you are a manufacturer or wholesaler licensed to produce or sell these products.
Is ephedra legal in Australia?
Ephedrine can be extracted from the traditional Chinese medicinal plant ephedra, which is used to produce methamphetamine, an ingredient in illegal drugs like ice and speed. It is illegal to import ephedra into Australia without an import permit.
Where is the ephedra plant found?
Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs. The various species of Ephedra are widespread in many arid regions of the world, ranging across southwestern North America, southern Europe, northern Africa, southwest and central Asia, northern China and western South America.
What is the ephedra plant used for?
Ephedra (Ephedra sinica), also called ma huang, is an herb that has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for more than 5,000 years, primarily to treat asthma, bronchitis, and hay fever. Ephedra is also prescribed for symptoms of cold and flu, including nasal congestion, cough, fever, and chills.
What is ma huang good for?
Ma-huang is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb derived from Ephedra sinica Stapf and other Ephedra species, used to treat asthma, nose and lung congestion, and fever with anhidrosis. It contains 0.5–2.5% by weight of total alkaloids, of which ephedrine accounts for 30 to 90%.
What plant has ephedrine in it?
Ephedrine, a precursor of methamphetamine, is the active alkaloid of the plant Ephedra vulgaris, which has been used in China for centuries as the herb Ma Huang. Ma Huang was extensively marketed as a stimulant and weight loss product, and is popular among adolescents.
What’s the difference between ephedra and ephedrine?
Ephedrine is a chemical contained in the ephedra herb. Ephedrine has medical uses, mostly in operating rooms and intensive care units. Its chemical properties raise blood pressure and heart rate and open up the large air passages in the lungs.
What is similar to ephedrine?
” The active ingredient in bitter orange is synephrine, a stimulant with pharmacological properties similar to those of ephedrine. ”Like ephedrine, it leads to constriction of blood vessels,” said Dr.
What products contain ephedrine?
Product(s) containing ephedrine:
- ephedrine systemic.
- ephedrine nasal.
- aminophylline/amobarbital/ephedrine systemic.
- aminophylline/ephedrine/guaifenesin/phenobarbital systemic.
- aminophylline/ephedrine/phenobarbital/potassium iodide systemic.
What is ephedra V?
Ephedra is widely used by athletes as a performance-enhancing drug, despite a lack of evidence that it improves athletic performance. Ephedra may also be used as a precursor in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine. Ephedra has been used as a weight-loss aid, sometimes in combination with aspirin and caffeine.
What was in Mini Thins?
Made by an Indianapolis company, Mini Thins is ostensibly a cold medicine but is often called “trucker’s speed” because long-distance truckers use it to stay alert. It contains ephedra, or ma huang, a substance derived from an Asiatic shrub that acts as a stimulant on the central nervous system.
What are the long term effects of ephedrine?
Ephedra can cause severe life-threatening or disabling conditions in some people. Ephedra use is linked to high blood pressure, heart attacks, muscle disorders, seizures, strokes, irregular heartbeat, loss of consciousness, and death.
How do you extract ephedrine from an ephedra plant?
The inventors of the present invention performed a process at an ultra-high pressure to efficiently obtain ephedrine from Ephedra sinica Stapf, and extracted ephedrine by using a solvent of sulfuric acid and ethyl alcohol mixed at a ratio determined through fractionation, without the conventional addition of diethyl …
How do you make yeast from ephedrine?
But to make ephedrine, the chemical benzaldehyde is added to the mix; the yeast ferments the benzaldehyde to produce an intermediate product called PAC, which is extracted using organic solvents, and then the PAC is converted into ephedrine in a second catalytic reaction which also requires the use of solvents.
How much ephedrine is in Ephedra Sinica?
sinica, including one that was 98% ephedrine, one that had 10% norpseudoephedrine, and one that contained an average of 13% methylephedrine. We conclude that product inconsistency is common among some commercially available dietary supplements that contain ephedra alkaloids and caffeine.
When was ephedrine banned?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids (stimulant compounds found in Ephedra sinica and some other plants) in the United States in 2004.
Has anyone died from ephedrine?
Florida State linebacker Devaughan Darling died of a heart attack, Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer died of heatstroke, Northwestern University safety Rashidi Wheeler of exercise-induced asthma — all in 2001. However, while all had been using ephedra, none of their deaths was traced directly to it.
What does ephedrine do to the body?
Because of its direct sympathomimetic effects, ephedrine can increase heart rate, contractility, cardiac output, and peripheral resistance. Thus, increases in both heart rate and blood pressure are common observations after ephedrine ingestion.