Crazy Story!
Use of weight-loss product discouraged in combat zone
By Steve Mraz. Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, March 11, 2006
Recent adverse reactions by two soldiers in Iraq who took the weight-loss supplement Hydroxycut have military officials “strongly discouraging” use of the product and similar supplements.
However, the chief science officer of the company responsible for Hydroxycut maintains that the product is “perfectly safe.”
Both incidents took place within days of each other in Ramadi, Iraq, and the common factor in each case was Hydroxycut, according to a letter from a military physician in Ramadi.
A 20-year-old soldier was brought to the emergency department by friends. The soldier had collapsed, lost consciousness and lost bladder control. On arrival, the soldier was confused and did not recall the event, according to a Feb. 9 letter from Col. Frederick C. Good, an emergency physician at Ramadi with the 228th Support Battalion.
Also, a 19-year-old soldier came in with complaints of palpitations and chest pain. The soldier was found to be experiencing an abnormal heart rhythm, which could have led to a fatal rhythm, the letter read. The soldiers’ names were not released because medical records are considered private.
Both individuals decided to “help” the product and failed to “eat sensibly and drink at least 10-15, eight-ounce glasses of water a day,” according to the letter.
“Hydroxycut … should not be used in a combat zone with the inherent problems encountered in regard to hydrating adequately and eating regularly,” according to the letter. “… The use of this product or any similar products is strongly discouraged, and any remaining product should be discarded. This product and any similar products are not a shortcut to fitness, and no substitute for a regular Physical Training program.”
Hydroxycut whether in a war zone or anywhere else, if taken as directed along with a regular program of diet and exercise is perfectly safe, said Dr. Marvin Heuer, chief science officer with Iovate Health Sciences Research Inc., which produces Hydroxycut.
Iovate has no indications in its database of Hydroxycut producing reactions similar to what the two soldiers experienced in Iraq, Heuer said.
“My gut feeling as a physician who has worked in the emergency room is that there were tons of other factors there that may have had an influence,” said Heuer in a telephone interview Friday afternoon.
Heuer noted that the U.S. military is one of Iovate’s largest buyers through the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
The current formula of Hydroxycut, which is available at AAFES locations but could not be found on AAFES’ Web site, does not contain ephedra and is available in caffeine and caffeine-free formulas.
In a previous formula, Hydroxycut contained ephedra, but the Food and Drug Administration banned the sales of supplements containing ephedra because of concerns about its side effects, including stroke and death.
Side effects of the current Hydroxycut formula include irregular — and potentially lethal — heart rhythms, elevated blood pressure and stroke, according to Good’s letter.
Some ingredients listed in weight-loss supplements have been associated with liver failure, lowering blood sugar and high blood pressure, said Army Maj. (Dr.) Gayle McDermott, chief of internal medicine at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Heuer contended that Iovate has no evidence of problems with those ingredients.
People with underlying medical problems have a greater chance of being adversely affected by such supplements, but healthy individuals are also at risk, McDermott said.
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