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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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,” 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

s

DEATHS HAVE BEEN

LINKED TO DNP USE

AROUND THE WORLD

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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: