Word: bechler
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Dates: during 2003-2003
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...this drug include an increased heart rate and blood pressure, restlessness, weight loss and heart failure. Ephedra, which has similar effects to amphetamines but is sold over-the-counter, can also be dangerous when taken before exercise, and was linked to the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler earlier this year. One Orioles team doctor said, “It makes the heart beat faster, the blood vessels constrict. That poor kid cooked to death from the inside...
...death of baseball pitcher Steven Bechler may have been linked to the herb ephedra [HEALTH, March 3]. It brings to the fore a problem that needs urgent regulatory attention. Alternative-medicine gurus and the burgeoning over-the-counter drug industry have fostered the notion that anything natural is safe. Well, the poisons strychnine, belladonna, ricin and botulin are all natural. Legislation is needed to prohibit advertising that implies "all natural ingredients" means "safe." HERMAN BIEBER Kenilworth...
What is clear now is that for personal medical reasons, Bechler probably shouldn't have taken the ephedra pills he was on, Xenadrine RFA-1. The label says potential users should "consult a physician ... before using this product if you are at risk of" 18 conditions, including high blood pressure and liver disease. Perper told TIME that Bechler would have known from a medical exam three days before he died that he had borderline high blood pressure. Two years ago, Perper says, Bechler had a liver test that showed abnormal results. It's unclear whether Bechler consulted anyone before taking...
Many athletes swallow the herb to give them an energy boost; it increases blood pressure and heart rate. Bechler apparently wanted that boost because he had gained 10 lbs. and because he knew he needed to hustle to make the team. (In the three games he pitched last year, he gave up three homers.) Many major leaguers told reporters last week that they take ephedra to improve performance. "It's a good supplement if taken right," Bechler's teammate Jay Gibbons told the Baltimore...
Players and owners will debate an ephedra ban but, given their past acrimony, don't expect a quick resolution. Even if the herb remains in the locker rooms, Bechler's death will have taught many players--and those who idolize them--that ephedra isn't something to be popped blindly. --Reported by David Bjerklie and Sean Gregory/New York and Alison Onianwa/Fort Lauderdale