Health experts are warning that a veterinary drug misused by some elite athletes is increasingly being abused by the general public.
The latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia reveals there have been 63 cases of people overdosing on Clenbuterol in the past decade among the general public.The number of cases increased from three in 2008 to 27 in 2012, according to the journal.
The prescription-only drug is legally used to help with breathing problems in horses.
Because of its anabolic properties, it has also been abused by some elite athletes in the past to boost their performance, leading to an official ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee.
Cyclist Alberto Contador and sprinter Katrin Krabbe were both banned for abusing Clenbuterol.
The medical journal says the drug's use has now spread to body-builders and slimmers.
Dr Jonathon Brett from Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital says the drug is often taken in high doses, and more than 80 per cent of people who abused the drug ended up in hospital.
He has called for its sale to be restricted.
Patients presenting with an overdoses have symptoms such as nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, chest pains and other cardiac issues.
The medical journal says there has been one case of cardiac arrest.
quoted from here
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