ephedra

Active Compounds:  
Ephedra's active medicinal ingredients are the alkaloids ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. The stem contains 1-3% total alkaloids, with ephedrine accounting for 30-90% of this total, depending on the plant species employed. Both ephedrine and its synthetic counterparts stimulate the central nervous system, dilate the bronchial tubes, elevate blood pressure, and increase heart rate. Pseudoephedrine (the synthetic form) is a popular over-the-counter remedy for relief of nasal congestion.




Remedies For:  
Diaphoretic, bronchial dilator, diuretic
Induces perspiration, warms coldness, relieves wheezing, moves fluids. It is used for common cold, wheezing, bronchial asthma, bronchitis, and edema.


Useful for:

Asthma
Common Cold
Hay fever
Congestion
Cough
Weight loss and obesity

Ephedra is used to treat asthma, hay fever, the common cold, and as a weight loss aid.




Dosage:  
The crude powdered stems of ephedra (with less than 1% ephedrine) are employed at a dose of 1-4 grams per day in tea form.
Tinctures of 1-4 ml three times per day can be taken.
Over-the-counter drugs containing ephedrine can be safely used by adults at a dose of 12.5-25 mg every four hours. Adults should take no more than 150 mg every twenty-four hours.
Pseudoephedrine is typically recommended at a dose of 60 mg every six hours.


Safety:
Ephedra should not be used by those with external deficiency with symptoms of spontaneous sweating. Because the alkaloids have an effect similar to that of adrenaline, ephedra should not be used with symptoms of high blood pressure or insomnia.
Ephedra has a long history of safe use at the recommended amount. However, abuse of the drug-especially for weight loss-can lead to amphetamine-like side effects, including elevated blood pressure, muscle disturbances, insomnia, dry mouth, heart palpitations, nervousness, and even death due to heart failure.
Anyone with high blood pressure, heart conditions, diabetes, glaucoma, thyroid disease, and those taking MAO-inhibiting antidepressants should consult with a physician before using any type of product with ephedra. 
Pseudoephedrine can cause drowsiness and should be used with caution if driving or operating machinery Ephedra-based products should be avoided during pregnancy and lactation and used with caution in children under the age of six years.
US FDA recommends that the amount of ephedra added to dietary supplements to 8 milligrams. FDA wants warning labels put on the products cautioning against taking them for more than a week, and advising consumers not to combine them with other stimulants. These were retracted on strong opposition from the General Accounting Office (GAO), that the agency does not have enough evidence to make such recommendation. However, FDA has kept the warning against mixing ephedrine with other stimulants. 
Medical experts suggest that used as a stimulant, ephedra can raise blood pressure and heart rate, cause vomiting, heart palpitations, dizziness, nervousness and more serious reactions, including heart attacks, seizures and strokes. U.S. FDA has said that between 1997 and 1999 it had received 140 reports of illness or death linked to ephedra alkaloids. Since then, the agency has gotten another 103 such reports, but those haven't been investigated. A recent study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that ephedra might be the main culprit for those deaths. (Read the entire article on the discussion of the safety of this drug.)
Because of the possible danger due to the abuse, we recommend that you should limit the amount of this herb consumed strictly. It has been shown that many times, the actual amount of the active ingredients present in the products can differ substantially from batch to batch due to poor quality controls. So, caution is recommended. We also recommend that you do not take this with stimulants such as caffeine.