時差N小時:麻黃減肥禁令

In the United States, the government is acting toban the sale of ephedra as a product to help peoplelose weight. Ephedra is a plant that containsephedrine and pseudoephedrine. These substancescan increase a person's energy level and causeweight loss.

在美國，政府正在采取行動禁止銷售作為減肥產(chǎn)品的麻黃。麻黃是一種草藥，它含有麻黃堿和偽麻黃堿。這些物質(zhì)能夠增加人體內(nèi)的能量水平，達到減肥的效果。

However, officials warn that ephedra also raises blood pressure. Ephedra has been linked toheart attacks, strokes, seizures and deaths. The secretary of Health and Human Servicesannounced the ban. Tommy Thompson urged people to stop using ephedra even before theban takes effect. He said he did not want to delay the announcement, because people oftentry to lose weight at the start of a new year.

然而，官方警告說麻黃有增加血壓的風險。麻黃素與心臟病、中風和死亡有聯(lián)系。衛(wèi)生與公眾服務(wù)部宣布了禁售令。即使在禁令生效前，湯米·湯普森也曾督促人們停止使用麻黃。他說，他不愿意延期告誡大家，因為人們總是在新年伊始時開始減肥。

The market has grown sharply for herbal products known as dietary supplements. Companies donot have to prove them safe and effective the way drug makers do.

而市場對草藥產(chǎn)品這類營養(yǎng)補充劑的需求與日俱增。企業(yè)們并不需要像藥品生產(chǎn)商一樣證明這些產(chǎn)品安全、有效。

In nineteen-ninety-four, Congress limited the ability of the Food and Drug Administration totake action against supplements. This is the first ban since then. The ban will not include theversion of ephedra used in medicines to treat breathing infections. Ephedra has long been usedfor this purpose as a traditional medicine in China, where the plant is called ma huang.

1994年，國會授權(quán)食品和藥物管理局一定的權(quán)利，以便采取措施管理這類補充劑。自那時以來，這是首次出臺禁令。這項禁令不會涉及到用于治療呼吸系統(tǒng)感染的麻黃。在中國，自古以來人們就有用麻黃治療此病的傳統(tǒng)。