ABSTRACT
Ephedra may be the herbal medicine that best illustrates the challenges faced today in incorporating traditional remedies, used for thousands of years in Eastern cultures, into modern Western societies in which the context of use may be very different. Ephedra is a common plant genus that grows worldwide in temperate climates. The Chinese herbal medicine ma huang is derived from the dried above-ground parts of several Ephedra species found in China, primarily E. sinica, E. equisetina, and E. intermedia (1-5). E. gerardiana is the species utilized as a traditional medicine in India and Pakistan (3). Ma huang has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine for the short-term treatment of bronchospasm, cough, and nasal congestion associated with colds, aller-gies, and asthma (1, 3, 5). Ephedra has also been used medicinally for its diaphoretic, vasopressant, antipyretic, and antitussive properties (3, 5). Be-cause of the risk of development of tachyphylaxis and dependence, long-term use of ma huang has not been traditionally advocated (2, 4, 5).
