FDA OKs ‘Containment’ Bag for Certain Uterine Surgeries

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it would permit limited use of a “tissue containment system” in conjunction with laparoscopic power morcellators — devices that grind up tissue in gynecological surgeries.

But the FDA still warns against using laparoscopic power morcellators in most women because the procedure can spread undetected cancer cells.

The device, called the PneumoLiner, will be permitted only when uterine tissue is not suspected to contain cancer, the agency said. And its maker must warn patients and doctors that the device has not been proven to reduce the risk of spreading cancer during these procedures.

“The PneumoLiner is intended to contain morcellated tissue in the very limited patient population for whom power morcellation may be an appropriate therapeutic option — and only if patients have been appropriately informed of the risks,” Dr. William Maisel, chief scientist at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an agency news release.

“This new device does not change our position on the risks associated with power morcellation. We are continuing to warn against the use of power morcellators for the vast majority of women undergoing removal of the uterus or uterine fibroids,” Maisel added.

About one in 350 women who undergo a hysterectomy or fibroid removal is discovered to have an unsuspected cancer, the FDA estimates. If morcellation is performed on these women, it could “spread the cancerous tissue within the abdomen and pelvis, significantly worsening the patient’s likelihood of long-term survival,” the news release stated.

Women who might be candidates for the PneumoLiner include those without uterine fibroids undergoing a hysterectomy and some pre-menopausal women with fibroids who want to maintain their fertility, the FDA said.

Some women and their doctors might also determine that laparoscopic power morcellation is a more appropriate treatment than more invasive surgery, Maisel’s team noted.

“For these women, the device is intended to isolate and contain tissue that is considered to be noncancerous before surgery, even if that tissue is subsequently determined to be cancerous,” the agency said.

So how does it work?

A plunger delivers a containment bag into the abdominal cavity, where the tissue to be removed is placed in the bag. The bag is then sealed and inflated, creating a working space around the tissue, the FDA explained.

Testing found that the bag was strong enough to withstand forces greater than those expected in actual clinical use, the FDA said.

PneumoLiner is manufactured by Advanced Surgical Concepts Ltd. in Bray, Ireland.

More information

To learn more about uterine fibroids, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Sleepy Teens Are Risk-Taking Teens

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Sleep-deprived high school students are more likely to sustain injuries — often due to risky behaviors — than those who are well rested, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.

In a study of more than 50,000 students, researchers found that those teens who got seven hours of sleep or less on school nights were more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as not wearing a seatbelt, riding with a drinking driver, and drinking and driving.

“The failure of most high school students to get sufficient sleep may put them at increased risk for unintentional injuries,” said lead researcher Anne Wheaton, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study also found that teens who slept 10 or more hours a night were also prone to injuries and risky behaviors, compared with students who slept nine hours.

“We have known all along that sleep deprivation and too much sleep are problems and cause accidents,” said Dr. Alon Avidan, director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center in Los Angeles.

This is the first study that shows that sleep deprivation in teens leads to risky behavior that puts them at risk for accidents, he said.

“It’s not the sleep deprivation, per se, but it’s the risks associated with the sleep deprivation that are putting adolescents at risk for injury,” Avidan said.

People who sleep too much may also be sleep deprived, he added, because they’re often trying to make up for lost sleep. And, too much sleep can be associated with a greater risk for depression and other medical conditions, such as chronic pain, Avidan explained.

For the new study, the CDC researchers looked at the association between self-reported sleep duration on an average school night and several injury-related risk behaviors. Those behaviors included infrequent use of a bicycle helmet, infrequent seatbelt use, riding with a driver who had been drinking, drinking and driving, and texting while driving.

“We found that students who reported sleeping seven hours or less were more likely to report each of these injury-related risk behaviors, compared with students who slept nine hours,” Wheaton said.

“Infrequent seatbelt use and riding with a driver who had been drinking both increase the risk of injury, even when the sleepy student is not the driver,” she added.

Avidan said lack of sleep among teens can be caused by a variety of factors, including late-night computer use, TV watching and video game playing.

And, light exposure from computers, TVs, tablets and smartphones can delay falling asleep by as much as one hour, he said.

Too much caffeine, trying to catch up on sleep on weekends and napping during the day also play havoc with getting a good night’s sleep, Avidan said.

Another factor is the “early rise time with schools expecting kids to be at school at 7 a.m.,” Avidan said.

Dr. Marcel Deray, a pediatric neurologist and head of the sleep disorder center at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, said some states, like Minnesota, have changed high school starting times to let kids get more sleep. “If they could delay school starting time by an hour, that would be ideal,” he said.

Avidan said that the best way to ensure getting enough sleep is to “maintain a regular sleep/wake schedule. For teens that’s a minimum of eight hours a night.”

Other steps include eliminating exposure to artificial light and eliminating caffeine after noon, he suggested.

Artificial light delays the effect of melatonin, Avidan said. “Melatonin is the hormone of darkness, so the more artificial light you have, the more melatonin secretion is delayed, and that adds fuel to the fire,” he explained.

More information

For more on teens and sleep, visit the National Sleep Foundation.

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Predicting Longevity May Be Simpler Than Thought

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Testing the length of the ends of your DNA strands may not be the best predictor of how long you will live, a new study suggests.

Instead, simpler measures that include your age and your ability to climb stairs or walk a short distance may more accurately pinpoint longevity, researchers report.

The study team analyzed death rates over five years among older people in the United States (60 and older), Costa Rica (61 and older) and Taiwan (53 and older).

The aim was to find out how a broad set of basic measures — such as age, mobility and smoking habits — compared with gauging the length of telomeres in predicting death over a five-year period. Telomeres are the ends of DNA that shrink with age, the researchers said.

Since the discovery that telomeres act as a “molecular clock” in people, there has been great interest in finding out if telomere length can be used to accurately predict when someone will die, the scientists explained.

But this new study found that using telomere length was just slightly better than a “coin toss,” the researchers said. Actual age was, by far, the single best predictor of death, according to the findings published online April 6 in the journal PLoS One.

“Scientific evidence on telomere length has been sensationalized and, in some cases, exaggerated by the media and by companies that have capitalized on the research to market products that may promise more than they can deliver,” said study author Dana Glei. She is a senior research investigator at Georgetown University’s Center for Population and Health, in Washington, D.C.

Study co-author Noreen Goldman is a professor of demography and public affairs at Princeton University. She said in a Princeton news release, “We were surprised that most indicators outperformed telomere length, including self-reported measures of health and mobility, an assessment of cognitive [mental] function, smoking, exercise, an inflammatory marker and a measure of kidney function.”

The findings show there is no evidence to suggest that doctors should test telomere length to determine how long patients will live, the study authors said.

“It is much easier and less expensive to ask someone’s age than to collect blood, extract DNA and measure telomere length,” Glei said in the news release.

The study results are also important for consumers, the researchers said.

“On the Internet, they sell test-your-own-telomere-length kits and supplements that are touted to help people maintain their telomeres. We caution buyers to beware,” Glei added.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more on the biology of aging.

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Here’s How Many Miles You’d Have to Run to Burn Off a Pizza

Photo: Getty Images

Would you gorge on a couple slices of hot, cheesy pizza if you knew how bad it was for you? Of course you would. Past research has shown that people mostly ignore calorie counts when they’re posted on a menu.

But maybe you’d think twice if you knew how much exercise it would take to burn it off: 3.5 miles, or 43 minutes, of running.

There’s now a movement to label foods with their equivalent amount of the exercise in minutes it would take to expend the number of calories you take in from that food. According to a new viewpoint published in the BMJ, it’s one way to help fight skyrocketing rates of obesity and other weight-related diseases. (Rates of diabetes across the world have nearly doubled since 1980, according to a World Health Organization report released this week.)

“This is what we’re up against,” says viewpoint author Shirley Cramer, chief executive at the Royal Society of Public Health in the U.K. “We need to think of different, more imaginative ways of giving people information and nudging behavior.”

The icons, which are just an idea for now, would show a stick figure walking, running, swimming or biking next to the number of minutes required to cancel out calories consumed. A mocha coffee drink would take 53 minutes to walk off, while a blueberry muffin would require almost half an hour of running, according to the Royal Society of Public Health’s policy paper.

“We want to think of ways of making it easier for people to make a healthier choice, or at least to understand the choice they’re making,” Cramer says. “By putting it together with physical activity, you’re giving people a positive option as well. People prefer that to being told not to eat something.”

Cramer acknowledges that the icons could pose problems for people with eating disorders, who need no reminder that it takes far more energy and effort to burn off a doughnut than it takes to eat one. “But in the big picture, we have many, many more overweight and obese people than people with eating disorders,” she says. The Royal Society for Public Health is currently lobbying the U.K. government and food-and-beverage industry to try the idea on some food products.

The goal is to shrink the gap between food and exercise and to help people understand how calories fit into their everyday life, and Cramer is betting that the labels have staying power. Knowing that it takes 77 minutes to walk off a sticky cinnamon bun is a hard fact to forget.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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I Got Eyelash Extensions and Something Really Unexpected Happened

Elysia Berman / MIMI

If you’re considering getting eyelash extensions, chances are you’ve done a bit of research. While there are plenty of articles about the process (we actually wrote one a few months ago), there’s less information on the aftermath—how eyelash extensions change your makeup routine, for one. To learn more, I paid a visit to Clementina Richardson at Envious Lashes in New York City and had 100 individual lashes added to each eye. And what happened next was seriously unexpected…

RELATED: Eyebrow Extensions Changed My Face (and My Life)

First, here’s the real talk—eyelash extensions look f’ing incredible. Here’s a before and after pic Richardson took on her iPhone:

MIMI

That said, they’re not the most comfortable in the beginning. It pretty much feels like you’re wearing false eyelashes 27/4, which is expected considering you have fake strands literally superglued to your eyelids. But after 2-3 days, that feeling completely goes away and you don’t even notice they’re there. Unless, of course, you accidentally rub your eyes in the shower and have a massive panic attack (guilty) because you may have just accidentally ruined them, which brings me to the best part of getting eyelash extensions…

You really can’t rub your eyes—at least, you’re not supposed to. It’s a hard habit to break, but an important one, not only to extend the life of your eyelash extensions, but also to prevent sagging and other signs of aging. I can’t tell you how guilty I was of aggressively rubbing my eyes in the shower after washing my hair. It was probably my worst beauty habit (other than occasionally picking my nails). But now, a couple of weeks after getting eyelash extensions, the temptation is all but gone. And my eyes are already looking bigger, brighter, and more well rested (which may just be the result of the extra set of lashes, but either way, I’m not mad about it).

RELATED: Kim Kardashian’s Magical Lashes Are Within Your Reach

When it comes to your morning beauty routine, eyelash extensions will definitely shake things up, but in a good way. Let me preface this by saying that I am (er, was) an eye makeup junkie—I honestly can’t remember the last time I left the house without a generous coat (or three) of mascara. My guess is middle school. But now that I have extensions, I can go completely makeup free with confidence (and sleep an extra 10 minutes every morning, which is an added bonus).

When I asked Richardson if I could wear mascara with my extensions, all she said was, “Trust me. You won’t need to.” She was obviously right (also the answer is no, you shouldn’t). Tbh, there’s no better feeling than waking up in the morning with your makeup basically already done for you. Though if you can’t go without a little black eyeliner or pop of shadow, you’ll want to take it off with something super mild like Neutrogena’s Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover ($4.99; target.com).

Elysia Berman / MIMI

Rocking eyelash extensions is a legit commitment, though. You have to apply a special conditioning serum every night to keep them soft (and keep your natural lashes healthy as well), curl them with a heated curler (your regular one will damage them), and brush them out every morning. Plus, you’re not really supposed to get them wet, which makes your nighttime face washing routine slightly more difficult (especially if you’re a little tipsy… hey, no judgment here). Switching out your cotton pillowcases for silk or a higher thread count is also a good idea since the fabric can harm your skin and lashes. Oh yeah, and you have to go for refills every 2-3 weeks if you decide to keep them—because if you wait too long they’ll fall out naturally and you’ll have to start over from scratch.

RELATED: All the Best Waterproof Mascaras on the Market

As for me? While I don’t necessarily see this being a longterm relationship, it’s definitely more than just a fling—after all, I did schedule my refill appointment less than 24 hours after getting them. What can I say? I like being able to literally say, “I woke up like this.”

This article originally appeared on MIMIchatter.com.

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Preschoolers’ Diets Improved After Federal Food Voucher Changes: Study

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A change to a U.S. government nutrition program improved the diets of millions of young children in low-income families, a new study says.

Researchers compared the eating habits of nearly 1,200 2- to 4-year-olds in low-income households before and after the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) was changed in 2009.

With the revamp, more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk were included in the WIC food voucher package.

The change improved the diets for the approximately 4 million children in the program, according to the University of California (UC) study published April 7 in the journal Pediatrics.

“Although the findings only showed significant improvement for consumption of greens and beans, the other areas for which WIC has put in important efforts — increased consumption of whole fruits rather than fruit juice, increased whole grains — all show trends in the right direction…,” study author June Tester said in a university news release. Tester is a pediatrician at the UC San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

“Increasing consumption of nutritious foods such as green leafy vegetables and whole grains in the low-income children served by WIC will help them establish healthier eating patterns for their future,” study co-author Patricia Crawford, a cooperative extension nutrition specialist with UC’s Nutrition Policy Institute, said in the news release.

The researchers also found that the switch from whole milk to low-fat milk did not lead to children drinking less milk.

More information

LetsMove.gov has more about healthy eating for children.

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Earplugs Help Prevent Hearing Loss Tied to Loud Concerts: Study

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A new study confirms a common-sense notion: Earplugs can shield you from the temporary hearing loss that can happen after a high-decibel music concert.

While getting young people wear earplugs at concerts may be a long shot, one expert said the threat to their hearing is real.

With more people using MP3 players, “and the increasing loudness of movies, concerts and sporting events, physicians need to take a proactive role in the prevention of a potential hearing loss epidemic,” said Dr. David Hiltzik, director of otolaryngology at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City.

In fact, the study said, the number of American teens with hearing loss has jumped 31 percent since 1988, according to federal government data.

One reason for that trend is increased exposure to loud music at venues such as concerts, festivals and nightclubs, the researchers said.

Is there a way for kids to enjoy the music, but at safer, lower decibel levels?

The new study included 51 people, average age 27, attending an outdoor music festival for 4.5 hours. Half were randomly selected to use earplugs.

The average noise level during the festival was 100 decibels, which is known to pose a threat to hearing.

After the festival, temporary hearing loss was diagnosed in nearly half (42 percent) of those who did not wear earplugs, but only 8 percent of those who had used them.

What’s more, the rate of post-concert tinnitus (ringing in the ears) was 40 percent in those without earplugs, but just 12 percent in those who wore them.

The findings add to “evidence that earplugs are effective in preventing temporary hearing loss during high recreational music levels. Therefore, the use of earplugs should be actively promoted and encouraged to avoid noise-induced hearing loss,” wrote the research team led by Dr. Wilko Grolman of the University Medical Center Utrecht, in the Netherlands.

Hiltzik said that as a doctor who “treats a growing number of younger patients with hearing loss, it is encouraging to have a study that objectively confirms the effectiveness of protective measures that I advocate to them on a daily basis.”

Dr. Darius Kohan is chief of otology at Lenox Hill Hospital and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital in New York City. He called the study “beautifully written and very pertinent to our current culture.”

He said it’s long been clear that loud music can harm hearing, and it’s not certain how long the damage can last.

“With only a minimal effort to protect their hearing with inexpensive earplugs, the problem can be easily averted or at least markedly diminished,” Kohan said.

The study was published online April 7 in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

More information

The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery has more on noise and hearing protection.

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Hearing Loss Tied to Bigger Medical Bills for Late Middle-Aged

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Hearing loss is associated with higher medical costs for late middle-aged adults, a new study finds.

Researchers examined health care use by nearly 562,000 adults between the ages of 55 and 64 who had private insurance. They found that over 18 months, those with hearing loss had 33 percent higher health care costs ($14,165, on average) than those without hearing loss ($10,629).

However, the study only showed an association between hearing loss and higher medical costs, and not a cause-and-effect link.

The study was published online April 7 in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

More than 60 percent of U.S. adults over the age of 70 have age-related hearing loss, and the rate of hearing loss triples between the ages of 50 and 60, the researchers said.

“This finding indicates that negative health-related effects of hearing loss, a condition that many consider simply an unavoidable result of aging, may manifest earlier than is generally recognized and may affect use of health care across the continuum of care,” study author Annie Simpson said in a journal news release. She is an assistant professor in the department of healthcare leadership and management at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston.

The researchers said more study is needed to understand the reasons for the cost differences, and how much early use of hearing aids and other hearing loss remedies might lower costs.

“Nevertheless, our study suggests that hearing loss is costly, even in middle-aged individuals, and is present in large numbers of adults for whom early, successful intervention may prevent future hearing-related disabilities and decreased quality of life,” the researchers concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders has more about hearing loss.

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FDA Approves First Wire-Free Pacemaker

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The first leadless, wire-free heart pacemaker has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Medtronic’s Micra Transcatheter Pacing System works like other pacemakers to regulate heart rate in people with heart rhythm disorders, but does not use wired leads to make the electrical connection between the device and the heart.

One expert believes the device’s approval is a big win for heart patients.

“The leadless pacemaker is a major breakthrough in the field of heart rhythm management and will benefit patients through its ease of insertion and elimination of the lead,” said Dr. Nicholas Skipitaris, who directs cardiac electrophysiology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Traditional pacemakers have a wire or “lead” connecting the device to the heart, and inserting the lead entails minor surgery, Skipitaris said.

“Through a small incision near the shoulder, the lead is guided through a blood vessel and attached to the inside surface of the heart,” he said. “The other end is connected to the pacemaker, which is then placed in a pocket under the skin. The incision is closed with sutures.”

Unfortunately for patients, “leads may sometimes malfunction or become less reliable over the long term,” he added.

Leads in traditional pacemakers can sometimes malfunction or infections can develop in tissue surrounding the leads, the FDA said, and surgery is then required to replace the device.

But as the FDA explained, the new inch-long Micra device is implanted directly into the right ventricle chamber of the heart, with no wire lead needed.

“Insertion of the Micra is also easier as it does not require any incision,” Skipitaris said. “It is delivered to the heart through a long tube placed in a large vein in the groin area. The self-contained device is then anchored to the heart and the guiding tube is removed,” he explained.

Dr. William Maisel is acting director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. He said in an agency news release: “As the first leadless pacemaker, Micra offers a new option for patients considering a single chamber pacemaker device, which may help prevent problems associated with the wired leads.”

The Micra pacemaker is meant for patients with a common heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation or those with other dangerous rhythm problems, such as bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome.

The FDA approval is based on a clinical trial of 719 patients who received the Micra device. Six months after implantation, 98 percent of the patients had adequate heart pacing. Complications occurred in less than 7 percent of the study participants and included extended hospital stays, blood clots in the legs and lungs, heart injury, heart attack and dislocation of the pacemaker, the FDA said.

“It is very exciting that we will now have a leadless device in our arsenal of weapons to treat flow heart rhythm problems,” said another expert, Dr. Todd Cohen, director of electrophysiology at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. “The problem with pacing and defibrillator wires has continued to the present — by removing the lead from the pacing system, a more reliable system may result.”

According to the FDA, Micra should not be used in patients who have other implanted devices that would interfere with the pacemaker, who are severely obese, have an intolerance to materials in the pacemaker or to the blood thinner heparin, or whose veins are too small for the implantation procedure.

Nearly 1 million people worldwide receive heart pacemakers each year.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on pacemakers.

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Stimulant, Banned From Sports, Found in Dietary Supplements in U.S.

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A stimulant banned from competitive sports has been found in more than a dozen dietary supplements marketed for “burning” body fat.

Researchers found the stimulant — called oxilofrine — in 14 supplement brands sold in the United States. All of the products listed the substance on their labels, but under the alternative name of methylsynephrine.

Experts said the results raise more questions about the loose regulation of dietary supplements in the United States. Unlike drugs, supplements do not have to be proven effective, or even safe, before hitting the market.

Oxilofrine, a stimulant, raises blood pressure and heart rate, and in some countries it’s used as a prescription drug for low blood pressure. The World Anti-Doping Agency considers oxilofrine a doping agent, and has banned it from sports, the researchers noted.

Since 2009, several athletes have been suspended after testing positive for the drug. But they’ve claimed they unknowingly ingested oxilofrine through supplements.

“So it’s been known since at least 2009 that dietary supplements may contain oxilofrine,” said Dr. Pieter Cohen, lead researcher on the new study and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Now there’s “definitive proof,” said Cohen, who reported the findings in the April 7 issue of the journal Drug Testing and Analysis.

“This really raises the question, what is the FDA doing?” Cohen said, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

An FDA spokesperson said the agency is taking action. Last week, it sent warning letters to manufacturers of eight dietary supplements that list methylsynephrine on their labels.

The substance fails to meet the definition of a “dietary ingredient,” the FDA said, so any supplement containing it is misbranded. The companies were given 15 days to report the “specific steps” they will take to bring their products into compliance with the law.

But while oxilofrine (or methylsynephrine) is a prescription medication in some countries, the FDA does not classify it as a drug, said spokesperson Lyndsay Meyer.

It is simply considered a substance with stimulant-like effects, she said.

Cohen noted that no one knows what risks a healthy person could face from taking oxilofrine regularly.

But, he said, it’s essentially a synthetic version of ephedra — which the FDA banned from dietary supplements more than a decade ago because of serious risks including heart attack and stroke.

“We know that at prescription doses, oxilofrine increases heart rate and blood pressure,” Cohen said. “The question is, what will that do in a healthy person who’s exercising?”

A recent U.S. government study found that supplement side effects send about 23,000 Americans to the emergency room every year. When young adults landed in the ER, it was usually due to chest pain, palpitations or other cardiac effects related to a weight-loss or “energy” supplement.

Cohen questioned whether oxilofrine could have been behind some of those cases.

The current study analyzed 27 supplement brands marketed for “fat burning” that listed methylsynephrine on the label. It turned out that 14 actually contained the ingredient in varying doses, but six brands served up prescription-level doses or higher, the researchers found.

Some of the highest-dose brands included HyperDrive 3.0, Shredder, Fastin, Lean Pills and Tummy Tuck, according to the report.

Some, but not all, of the manufacturers included in the study were sent the FDA warning letter.

An industry trade association called the findings “troubling.”

“They demonstrate once again that rogue companies will ignore the laws designed to protect consumers,” said Steve Mister, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

“We urge the FDA to use all the resources at its disposal to take action to sanction these companies — and others — to remove the products from the marketplace,” Mister said.

But the FDA has limited resources, said Dr. Michael Carome, of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

“It’s a constant game of cat-and-mouse,” Carome said. “These companies will respond to the FDA letter, then maybe go back to what they were doing. Or just change their name. It’s easy for them to escape enforcement.”

Carome called the new findings “disturbing, but certainly not surprising.”

Cohen agreed that the oxilofrine situation is one symptom of a bigger problem. Even if a supplement is unsafe, he said, it could go undetected.

“The FDA has no effective system for detecting hazardous supplements,” Cohen said. Instead, it relies on doctors and consumers to submit reports of harm.

For now, Cohen had this advice for consumers: “If it lists methylsynephrine on the label, avoid it. And more broadly, avoid products marketed as weight-loss or ‘workout’ supplements. They either don’t work or could be spiked with drugs.”

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more on dietary supplements.

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