A survey on the dangers of amphetamines and the prevalence of obesity

Q: What kind of drug is amphetamine?

A: It's a sympathetic nervous system stimulant that enters the central nervous system. That's why it's listed as a prohibited substance.

Q: Is it scientifically synthesized, or is it extracted from something else?

A: In fact, it can be said that every drug is semi-synthetic, and then synthesized. Amphetamine is semi-synthetic, derived from ephedrine. As you know, ephedrine is a traditional Chinese medicine, extracted from ephedra. It was previously used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat asthma because it stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. With a little processing, ephedrine can be made into amphetamine.

Q: What are the side effects of taking too much amphetamine?

A: Overconsumption can cause your heart to beat too fast, leading to arrhythmia and increased blood pressure, potentially causing stroke or aggressive behavior. In men, it may lead to rape, murder, or assault. Additionally, they may become easily angered and experience personality changes. Afterwards, when you stop eating it, you may not necessarily become addicted, but your mood will plummet from an extreme high to an extreme low, causing severe depression. Some people may even develop suicidal tendencies; I've observed this in my patients.

Q: You said you wouldn't eat anymore, right?

A: Yes, he took amphetamines elsewhere and came to me for treatment. After stopping, he became very depressed. Since I opened my weight loss clinic five years ago, I've occasionally encountered similar problems. It's not our primary responsibility, but we report these issues, for example, when patients come for a visit and we encounter such problems in our clinical practice. Now, the toxicology center and health units at Veterans General Hospital are gradually testing many medications and have discovered that many secret formulas contain amphetamines, which is why everyone likes to lose weight quickly.

In Chinese-speaking regions, including mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, I was the first physician to research weight loss. I recently returned from Japan with three published papers, making me the researcher with the most published papers at the 6th International Obesity Medicine Conference. Although I am experienced, many people who come to me for weight loss are still unhappy.

I've encountered situations like this before, which people might find quite amusing. When we first started, around 1987, a young man, about 30 years old, came out saying, "What! You just gave me a few words, no massage, nothing special." I didn't know; I was thinking there might be other services that offer massages. He felt very unhappy that Yangming Hospital didn't offer massages, and I felt saddened because many people consider massages and other related services important.

Many people gain weight back after losing it, primarily because they didn't continue their regimen. Many people say, "I came here, but they didn't prescribe any medication." This is another type of person-one who wants medication indefinitely. The reason amphetamines exist is because many people desperately want to lose weight and demand medication, creating an opportunity for quack doctors offering unproven remedies.

In fact, up until 1989, no qualified physician besides myself had started working on weight loss. Weight loss involves a vast amount of knowledge, not just medical issues, but also psychological, sociological, and, importantly, nutritional aspects.

Q: I think it might be because, as you just mentioned, some patients who tried to lose weight gained it back without massages. People often can't reflect on themselves. They'll think, "Why did you help me lose weight, and then I gained it back? It's your fault, not mine." I think this is a common problem.

A: Because he later returned to his original weight. Losing weight is a difficult task, like the legendary Foolish Old Man Moving Mountains. Reports from around the world show that everyone has a tendency, which is both innate and gradually formed later in life; it's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature.

Q: When we talk about amphetamines, does that mean that their main function for people is to lose weight?

A: Other drugs weren't originally intended for weight loss. Because they weren't heavily regulated, they became popular among young people in Taiwan's black market as hallucinogenic drugs. Any drug that can enter the central nervous system can be used as a form of escape or relief from reality. Modern people, especially young people, suffer from many anxieties, particularly when they are struggling academically and feel misunderstood by their parents. Parents often have high expectations for their children, leading to conflicts. In these situations, young people often use drugs to temporarily escape their reality. This is why drugs like amphetamines and morphine are so prevalent-because they offer a form of relief.

Q: So you're saying that the primary use of amphetamine isn't for weight loss, but rather that some unscrupulous merchants with quick minds have used it for weight loss. Using amphetamines for weight loss can achieve immediate results, right?

A: Yes, that's why so many people and so many secret formula doctors use it for weight loss, and many health foods also secretly add amphetamines. This is a problem with the regulatory authorities' courage; they should come and crack down on these unethical practices.

Q: You just mentioned that many people take amphetamines to lose weight quickly, but of course, they don't take amphetamines; they take diet pills. I know many students who, in preparation for important exams, have to use amphetamines to study. Does that mean that even if I took one today, as long as I don't take it again, there won't be a problem?

A: After taking this drug, a person's personality might change, which others might find strange-that's the first point. Secondly, it can become a habit. A habit means that if someone has already stolen something once, why wouldn't they commit it again? This also illustrates the principle that many evils begin with small ones; if you always start with small things, they can escalate into major evils. Therefore, I would not condone students taking amphetamines to improve their grades. If amphetamines are used as a method to improve grades, I believe one should not commit such a heinous act simply because it seems insignificant.

Q: It's best to avoid amphetamines. Even if you want to lose weight, don't take secret diet pills. You should adjust your diet based on your overall nutrition.

A: Yes.

obesity prevalence

Q: Is the proportion of obese people in our country very high?

A: It's getting higher and higher. In my children's weight loss clinic, half of the patients are obese, not chubby. And when I walk past elementary schools, I find that the children have all become very fat. Even my daughter is fatter than I was when I was young. This may be a very important piece of information, so I did some research myself.

We conducted a study on fifth and sixth grade elementary school students, as well as junior high and high school students (we were able to collaborate only with fifth and sixth graders). The results showed that compared to ten years ago, there was not a significant difference in height. In fifth and sixth grade, the height was almost the same as before, with fifth graders being around 10-11 years old and sixth graders around 11-12 years old. However, in terms of weight, especially for boys, almost the entire population, from 5% to 90%, has increased. In other words, people who are thin now are fatter than people who were thin before, and people who are fat now are also fatter than people who were fat before.

Of course, the weight gain for thinner people was only slight, not a significant difference in fifth and sixth grade. But what about the overweight people? The increase was substantial, especially for the 95% who were overweight-those who ranked fifth or sixth out of a hundred people-they gained more than ten kilograms. There weren't so many severely obese people before, but now there are many.

What can we do? Take Japan as an example. They have nutritional data on their population dating back to the Meiji Restoration. Decades ago, they discovered that the main problem with Japanese food was excessive salt intake, so they implemented several methods. Their salt intake has decreased by 0.1-0.2 grams per year since four years ago, which is quite successful. Their fat intake has also decreased significantly. Of course, there's another counteracting force: the widespread consumption of modern Western food, which is very high in calories.

Anyone who has been to Japan knows that their cuisine has almost no oil, making it quite dry and difficult to swallow. Their noodle soup is like our plain noodles without any oil. This diet is very healthy, as it doesn't contain any animal products, meat, or fat. Tempura was also introduced to Japan by the Portuguese more than 400 years ago.

Their diet is almost entirely oil-free, which is one of the few healthy diets in a modern country, and they themselves want to preserve it. Furthermore, during modernization, some very oily foods have also entered the market, but these two factors offset each other, so their overall oil intake hasn't increased significantly. In other words, although their economic development is several times that of other countries, the extent of the lifestyle-related diseases they have experienced is not as widespread.

However, I don't think what they did was perfect. If I were in charge, I might have better suggestions. For example, at the 6th International Obesity Medicine Conference, I pointed out that Japan's recommended protein intake is the same as Taiwan's, which is why so many people are obese. After World War II, East Asia was still living in an agricultural era, and people rarely had the opportunity to eat meat. But after the economic boom, this situation gradually improved, and nutritionists began to recommend that people eat more meat.

In fact, whether in Taiwan or Japan, most people already consume more meat than recommended by their health authorities. However, experts often fail to notice this and continue to urge people to eat more meat. We've found that elementary school health education textbooks tell people to eat more protein-rich foods. But in modern society, the focus should be on a balanced diet, not on eating more of any particular food. No single food contains all the nutrients; each food needs to be combined with other foods to improve a person's nutritional intake.