Is Ephedrine effective for weight loss?
Carek and Dickerson found that combining ephedrine and caffeine was useful in treating obesity because of its anorectic and thermogenic properties involving only mild, transient adverse effects (1999). In this review, 20 mg of ephedrine and 200mg of caffeine were administered to 180 patients 3 times daily for 24 weeks. This combination was found to be more effective than placebo, caffeine, or ephedrine given separately (Carek and Dickerson, 1999). The adverse effects of the combination include tremor, insomnia, and dizziness. These effects were transient. However, muscle fatigue and stress were found after long term administration. Also mentioned were possible acute and chronic effects including cardiac arrhythmia, increased energy expenditure, increased lipolysis, hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia, weight loss, body fat loss, muscle hypertrophy, and improved insulin sensitivity (Carek and Dickerson, 1999). In a study of the effectiveness of an ephedrine-caffeine-aspirin combination in
