Weight Loss Supplements May Hold Hidden Heart Health Risks
Study finds many over-the-counter diet pills contain potentially dangerous ingredients; yet lack proper warning labels

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann-Marie White
Heart Rhythm Society
(202) 464-3476
awhite@hrsonline.org

Lucy McDonald: (202) 306-3456
Heart Rhythm 2008 Press Room: (415) 978-3520 (number effective May 14-17, 2008)

SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2008 — A new study reveals that many non-prescription weight-loss supplements available online may have hidden heart health dangers. The new study, presented today at Heart Rhythm 2008, the Heart Rhythm Society’s 29th Annual Scientific Sessions, found that 75 percent of the supplements analyzed contained at least one ingredient associated with life-threatening cardiac complications such as ventricular arrhythmias, cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death.

Two out of three Americans are overweight and a growing number of weight-loss supplements are easily available for purchase through the Internet. The new study, conducted by a team of researchers from the Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology Research at the Texas Heart Institute, is the first to examine the potential heart health risks of weight-loss supplements purchased online.

“People are purchasing these diet pills in an effort to become healthier, unaware that they are putting their heart health at serious risk,” said Alireza Nazeri, MD, lead author from the Texas Heart Institute. “The Internet provides easy access to weight-loss supplements, but lacks the necessary information and warnings to protect the public.”

The study reviewed the ingredients of 12 different brands of weight-loss supplements available on the Internet. The sample brands were selected by entering the common search terms “diet pills” and “weight-loss supplements” into the Internet search engines Google, MSN and Yahoo and selecting the top four hits from each. A list of ingredients was included on each label, but none included any warning labels on the bottles or shipping packages regarding their potential life-threatening cardiac side effects.

The investigators purchased and examined the products. From the ingredients listed on the labels of each brand, researchers identified 11 ingredients with at least one report of life-threatening cardiac complications or death. One ingredient has even been banned by the FDA since 2004.

Senior authors of the study included Ali Massumi, MD, FACC, and Director of the Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital-Texas Heart Institute and Mehdi Razavi, MD, Director of Electrophysiology Clinical Research at the Texas Heart Institute.

About Heart Rhythm2008
Heart Rhythm 2008 takes place May 14-17 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. The meeting is the most comprehensive educational event on heart rhythm disorders, offering 250 educational opportunities in multiple formats. The world’s most renowned scientists and physicians will present a wide range of heart rhythm topics including advances in statins, cardiac resynchronization therapy, catheter ablation, cardiac pacing and heart failure and the latest technology, including state-of-the-art pacemakers and defibrillators.