37-year-old woman convulsing, comatose because drinking coffee to lose weight, why is dietary supplement for fat loss or Sibutramine?

One of the slimming functional food products containing the banned substance Sibutramine has been recalled by the authorities (illustration image)

A series of weight loss supplements containing banned substances

Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital has just treated a female patient who came to the emergency room in a coma and convulsion after 4 days of drinking. weight loss coffee.

Female patient, 37 years old in Gia Lam, Hanoi, after giving birth to her third child, she gained a lot of weight, affecting her physique. A friend from the same company introduced a very effective weight loss coffee, drinking 1 week can lose 4 kg. She bought 1 box (30 packs) for 550,000 VND, drink 1 pack every morning.

This coffee has a sweet taste like milk coffee. When drinking until the 4th day, 15 minutes after drinking, she felt short of breath, cold and thirsty. The body temperature dropped suddenly, had to turn on the fan and put on a cotton blanket to still feel cold.

After that, she was taken to the District Hospital by her family members and then transferred to the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital in a state of shortness of breath, coma and convulsions.

Dr. BS Nguyen Trung Nguyen – Director of the Anti-Poison Center, Bach Mai Hospital said, CT scan results also showed brain damage. Currently, after 10 days of treatment, the patient’s health has gradually recovered, however, whether there are sequelae left or not when the brain is damaged, it takes more time to determine.

According to the director of the Anti-Poison Center, Bach Mai Hospital, the assessment results of the Institute of Forensic Medicine showed that the weight loss coffee the patient used contained sibutramine, a toxin that has been banned by the Ministry of Health for use in modern medicine. pharmaceuticals and functional foods because of their dangerous effects on users’ health.

This is not the first weight loss supplement product discovered to contain the banned substance sibutramine.

Earlier in February, the Food Safety Management Board of Bac Ninh province also announced the results of the planned food contamination hazard monitoring, which carried out the hazard monitoring for the group of health-protecting foods. .

This unit has taken samples to send to the National Institute of Food Safety and Hygiene for implementation. The results showed that 6 samples of health food products contained the banned substance Sibutramine.

Specifically:

1. TPBVSK Lady slim, batch number: 190715; Producer: June 20, 2019; HSD: June 19, 2022

2. TPBVSK Kisu, lot number: 170120; Producer: January 14, 2020; HSD: 14/1/2023

3. TPBVSK Super African Mango 1200- NV.M250; lot number: 01160044; HSD: 08/2022

4. TPBVSK seven days – NV.M253; lot number: 202021109; Producer: November 9, 2020; HSD: 08/11/2023

5. TPBVSK Diamond slim – NV.M168; batch number: 20L366; NSX: None; HSD: 01/2024

6. TPBVSK weight loss; Lot number: 030120; Producer: 06/01/20; HSD: 06/01/23

Worryingly, all 6 of these models are functional foods that are advertised to support effective weight loss (lose 5kg in 1 month…) used by many women.

How does Sibutramine affect health?

According to the National Center for Analysis and Evaluation of Food – Institute of Food Industry, weight loss supplements are currently a popular solution for busy people wishing to lose weight.

However, users who use dietary supplements that support weight loss containing the banned substance Sibutramine will experience adverse health effects.

Studies have shown that Sibutramine has the ability to suppress appetite, limit fat absorption, and help the body lose weight effectively.

However, this substance causes dangerous side effects such as: causing headache symptoms (occurrence rate is about 30.3%), back pain (accounting for 8.2%), allergies (3.8%). %), flu (8.2%), asthenia (5.9%), abdominal pain (4.5%), chest pain (1.8%), neck and shoulder pain (1.6%). .

Sibutramine is dangerous for people with a history of heart disease or high blood pressure. This substance increases the average systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 1-3 mmHg. At the same time, Sibutramine also increases the heart rate by about 4-5 beats per minute, which can cause arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, and more dangerously, it can cause cardiac arrest and stroke.

In addition, Sibutramine also acts on the nervous system, with symptoms: insomnia (10.7%), dizziness (7.0%), anxiety (4.5%), depression (4.3) %).

According to the same study, approximately 0.1% of patients experienced a seizure while using products containing Sibutramine.

Because of those dangerous side effects, since October 2010, FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) has issued a decision to ban the circulation of all products containing Sibutramine.

Currently, in Vietnam, the Drug Administration of Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has stopped licensing the import of Sibutramine raw materials and has withdrawn products containing this substance.

Losing weight for beauty is a legitimate need of everyone, especially for women. However, doctors recommend that women should not believe in advertisements with weight loss effects such as “panacea”, look to floating products, of unknown origin and quality on the market to receive them. health consequences, even life-threatening.

“A safe and effective way to lose weight is a scientific diet and reasonable exercise”, Dr. Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen emphasized.

N. Huyen