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www.sundayterritorian.com.au Sunday, June 9, 2013. Sunday Territorian. 27
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sundayterritorian.com.au SUNDAY LIFESTYLE
Toxicity linked the chemical to
62 deaths around the world.
The Food Standards Agency in the
UK has issued a warning about
the risks of DNP, describing the
drug as “extremely dangerous
to human health”.
DNP works by dramatically
increasing the body’s metabolic
rate to burn energy and fat but this
can lead to symptoms including
nausea, vomiting, dizziness, rapid
or heavy breathing, headaches,
dehydration and an irregular
heartbeat. In the worst cases,
DNP can be fatal.
THE INTERNET TRADE
In Australia, DNP is listed as a
prescription-only product for
therapeutic use, but Dr Claire
O’Reilly, acting president of
the Pharmaceutical Society
of Australia, says there’s no
commercial product registered
and available. Yet it’s still possible
to buy DNP-based weight loss
pills here via the internet.
“You can buy products from
anywhere in the world and they
can slip into this country,” Dr
O’Reilly says. “This is the big
issue. You can have regulations in
place but when people purchase
products like this on the internet,
it’s very, very messy. Products
could be unapproved for use
and you don’t know exactly what
ingredients are in the weight loss
product you’re getting.”
AUSTRALIAN APPROVAL
People may believe that
because they can order weight
loss products on the internet
and have them sent to Australia,
then those products must be safe
and approved. This is clearly not
true in the case of DNP.
Medicines used in Australia
must have Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA) approval.
The TGA is Australia’s regulatory
agency for medical drugs and
devices and it issues an “AUST R”
or “AUST L” number for approved
medicines. The number is printed
on the outer pack of medicines.
Most complementary medicines
have an AUST L listing proving
that they’re safe. Prescription
medication and over-the-counter
medicines most often have an
AUST R listing, which indicates
that products are safe and there’s
evidence of the product’s effi cacy.
Many of the weight loss
products sold on the internet and
shipped from overseas don’t meet
any of the strict TGA requirements.
NOT WORTH THE RISK
Dr O’Reilly says the fact
that Houston was taking
antidepressants and DNP pills
highlights another safety issue
– the potential for drugs to interact
and trigger serious side effects.
“Check with your pharmacist
or GP before you take any
supplements or over-the-counter
medicines,” she warns.
Dr O’Reilly says tougher controls
are needed to control DNP and
other unapproved weight loss
products coming into Australia.
“Anyone who buys these kinds
of weight loss products online
when little is known about them
is taking a great risk,” she adds.
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RISK
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s these kinds
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,” she adds.
It’s used in the manufacture of
pesticides, chemical dyes and
wood preservatives. But on
numerous websites in Australia,
it’s promoted as a fat-burner
and as an easy way to lose
weight without dieting.
The chemical, dinitrophenol,
or DNP, is being used in diet pills
that promise to speed up the
body’s metabolism and strip fat.
But the rapid weight loss can
come at a high cost.
Most recently, DNP slimming
pills were linked to the death
of 23-year-old British medical
student Sarah Houston, who
died after taking pills containing
DNP that she had ordered on
the internet. She was also taking
prescribed antidepressants
and medical experts believe the
combination of drugs proved to
be a fatal mix.
The night before she died,
Houston told her fl atmates that
she felt hot, her eyes yellowed and
her breathing became laboured.
The following day she was found
slumped in her room.
DEATH BY MISADVENTURE
Tests showed DNP in Houston’s
blood and the coroner recorded a
verdict of death by misadventure.
The coroner also urged the British
government to take action to
control access to DNP.
Her parents, Geoff and Gina
Houston, say they hope their
daughter’s death will be a warning
to anyone tempted to buy DNP, or
to see it as a quick fi x for weight
loss. Neither had heard of DNP.
“At the suggestion of one of the
police offi cers, I went on Google
and looked up DNP,” Gina says.
“What I came up with was a list
of horrible symptoms and side
effects, and they were precisely
the side effects that killed Sarah.
“It seems incomprehensible to
us that such a toxic substance
can be available in tablet form
to be sold in the UK for human
consumption across the internet.”
“EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
TO HUMAN HEALTH”
A study on DNP published last
year in the Journal of Medical
DEATHS HAVE BEEN
LINKED TO DNP USE
AROUND THE WORLD
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DEATHS HAVE BEEN
LINKED TO DNP USE
AROUND THE WORLD
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63
THESE DIET PILLS
COULD KILL YOU
DNP is a dangerous chemical that’s been linked to 63 deaths, yet it is available online as a slimming pill. By Sarah Marinos
WARNING: