DMAA sports supplements removed from UK market

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK has banned from sale all sports supplements containing the controversial ingredient 1,3-dimethylamylamine (DMAA), due to concerns about its effects on human health. MHRA has ruled that it is an unlicensed medicinal product, so should be governed by medicine controls. This follows a decision by the Therapeutic Goods Association in Australia to ban DMAA following the death of a man who had taken the drug following an internet purchase.

There have been reports that DMAA narrows the arteries and increases heart rate, leading to a range of effects from shortness of breath to heart attacks. DMAA is also on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.

This ruling follows recent research questioning the authenticity of "natural" DMAA in many sports supplements available on the open market, which was discussed recently in separationsNOW.com.