Tuesday, March 24, 2009

READ THE LABELS ON ALL MEDICATIONS!!!

Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) This is the story of one mother who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke while she was driving home on 7/30 and passed away on 8/3. Her stroke and passing was an enormous shock because she did not have any symptoms or risk factors for a stroke. Just the week before she had gone to her doctor for a check up and received a clean bill of health. She did, however, develop a cold while she was on a visit and had taken Alka Seltzer Cold Plus for 3 days. Since her passing, it was learned that Alka Seltzer is one of the many cold medicines that contains Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) which can cause hemorrhagic stokes or cerebral bleeding even with the first use.
STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use of medication.. Problems were not found in men, but the FDA recommended that everyone (even children) seek alternative medicine.
READ THE LABELS ON ALL MEDICATIONS!!!
"Since companies continue to reformulate their products, FDA is not maintaining a comprehensive, updated list of products that still contain PPA." Again, READ THE LABELS ON ALL MEDICATIONS!!!
Here is information from the web site...
"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking steps to remove phenylpropanolamine (PPA) from all drug products and has requested that all drug companies discontinue marketing products containing PPA. In addition, FDA has issued a public health advisory concerning phenylpropanolamine. This drug is an ingredient that was used in many over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription cough and cold medications as a decongestant and in OTC weight loss products.
In response to the request made by FDA in November 2000, many companies have voluntarily reformulated and are continuing to reformulate their products to exclude PPA while FDA proceeds with the regulatory process necessary to remove PPA from the market.
We have received numerous requests for a list of products containing PPA. Since companies continue to reformulate their products, FDA is not maintaining a comprehensive, updated list of products that still contain PPA. FDA is aware of emails circulating widely that list many products allegedly containing PPA. These emails, however, generally contain dated and inaccurate information and should be ignored.
The FDA recommends that consumers read the labels of OTC drug products to determine if the product contains PPA. The Agency believes this to be the most accurate method for determining the PPA content of OTC products rather than providing an incomplete or out-of-date list of products that may have already been reformulated and no longer contain PPA. (Introduction updated 03/07/2003)"

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