Written by Julie S. Ephedra, which is a popular dietary aid, became the first of its kind to be officially banned by the FDA. The reason being that it can be very dangerous to a person's health.


Ephedra, which is a herbal product, is said to be linked to strokes, heart attacks, and other unexplainable deaths in numerous individuals.


The ban imposed on ephedra, by the Bush Administration, will take place in approximately sixty days. But until this time, people are being warned not to continue to take this very dangerous dietary supplement.


Ephedra has ephedrine alkaloids in them. Something which is claimed to be not safe to take. As ephedrine is a substance that tends to raise blood pressure.


The FDA tried to put a restriction on ephedra back in 1997, because of the existence of some very serious side effects, but this wasn't accepted as being enough evidence to put a stop on it.


It took the sudden death of young Steve Bechler, who was only 23 years old, to get the heated debate over ephedra back into full throttle. Bechler was a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles and a regular user of ephedra.


So his death, along with those of many others, raised a question of the dietary supplement's safety with regards to the consumer's health at last.