objective: in recent years the use of herbal slimming supplements has increased in iran. one problem may be the illegal inclusion of synthetic drugs by some manufacturers in these products. the aim of this study is to determine four undeclared synthetic adulterants in some herbal slimming products present in the iranian market. methods: this survey studyresearched six common herbal slimming sup...

Chinese herbal medicine preparations are widely available and often regarded by the public as natural and safe remedies for a variety of medical conditions. Nephropathy caused by Chinese herbs has previously been reported, usually involving the use of aristolochic acids. We report a 23-year-old woman who developed acute renal failure following prolonged use of a proprietary Chinese herbal slimm...

Supposedly herbal weight loss pills are sold online and are widely used in the world. Some of these products are found to contain sibutramine by FDA and their sale is prohibited. We report a case of a female patient who presented to the emergency department after taking slimming pills. 17-year-old female patient presented to the emergency room with palpitations, dizziness, anxiety, and insomnia...

To the Editor: Sibutramine is a potent serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1997 for the treatment of obesity. 1,2 In 2010, the FDA issued a voluntary withdrawal of the drug due to concerns over adverse cardiovascular effects. 3,4 Despite this, sibutramine continues to be found in herbal slimming products sold over the Int...

Although rare in young patients, acute ischaemic colitis can have devastating consequences. We detail the presentation and clinical course of a severe, progressive case of this disease related temporally to the recent ingestion of a sibutramine-containing herbal slimming agent procured on-line without prescription or medical indication in a young female that ultimately required emergency laparo...

Herbal remedies containing aristolochic acid (AA) have been designated to be a strong carcinogen. This review summarizes major epidemiologic evidence to argue for the causal association between AA exposure and urothelial carcinoma as well as nephropathy. The exposure scenarios include the following: Belgian women taking slimming pills containing single material Guang Fang Ji, consumptions of mi...