Dec. 28, 1999
A basketball player for the Phoenix Suns recently suffered a near-death seizure, and his case has brought a stern warning about a combination of dietary supplements.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports from the Delta Center, where the player was noticeably absent at yesterday's game.
Suns Forward Tom Gugliotta was not here to play the Jazz because he's still recovering from the effects of a near-death seizure which occurred after he had taken a popular dietary supplement to help him sleep.
Gugliotta had taken a supplement containing furanone - one chemical name for what is called GHB. Though numerous stories have talked about dangerous side effects, some products are still being sold as a remedy for athletes to improve sleep and aid in muscle recovery.
That's what Gugliotta wanted following the Portland game. Instead, he went into a seizure and stopped breathing.
Barbara Crouch / Director, Utah Poison Control Center: "Patients are comatose. They're unarousable. They may have difficulty breathing. In some cases, they've had to establish an airway and provide respiration for the patient."
The team nutritionist for the Phoenix Suns says he's surprised the supplements haven't taken down more athletes.
Doug Grant / Team Nutritionist, Phoenix Suns: "The gray market supplements are the ones really on the edge out there, and this is one of them. This product does not increase performance. It does not enhance athletic ability."
Supplements still being marketed over the Internet include:
- ReActive
- Verve
- SomatoPro
- Blue Nitro
- Regenerize
Barbara Crouch says try to imagine a label which once appeared on a product called RenewTrient.
It said "muscle spasms, vomiting, bedwetting and diarrhea are typical reactions. Unless drugs or alcohol have been taken with RenewTrient, the only treatment necessary is to sleep it off. A call for help may result in uninformed emergency medical personnel using expensive, unnecessary and potentially dangerous methods of arousal."
Pharmacologists call this kind of labeling ridiculous and demeaning to the consumer.
"It's extremely offensive because there are different levels of being comatose, and the most profound level of comatose is when someone stops breathing."
The Poison Control Center still averages 2 to 3 calls per week from emergency rooms treating someone who's taken a GHB compound. And that doesn't include all those out there who never go in for treatment.
