‘Weekend Warrior’ supplement contains undeclared Viagra relative
From Forbes [updated]
The FDA is warning purchasers of Weekend Warrior sexual enhancement dietary supplement to discontinue use and discard the supplement because it’s adulterated with thiosildenafil, a chemical analogue of the active ingredient in the erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra® (Pfizer).
The health concern expressed by the FDA is that the undeclared drug ingredient might negatively interact with nitrate drugs for hypertension that act by dilating blood vessels, potentially lowering blood pressure to unsafe levels.
Weekend Warrior is sold via online retailers and in some stores with the promise of “Agility • Vitality • Longevity.” Even last week, sites such as Shop4Vitamins were still selling the supplement, at a price of $42.50 for eight tablets. Moreover, the company marketing the product has no information for consumers on their website following the FDA warning issued on Friday (8).
Supplement makers have been using this tactic since before I started teaching pharmacy students about herbal medicines in 1994, with prescription ED drugs or their chemical relatives somehow ending up in what are otherwise supposed to be natural supplements. But by adding real drugs to their supplements, they might actually “work,” but not because of their natural constituents.
In fact, the FDA has been playing whack-a-mole with the sexual enhancement supplement sector for years, with this medication health fraud page dedicated to warnings on other similar cases.
What does Weekend Warrior purport to be?
The supplement is labeled as containing 500 mg of a proprietary herbal extract and other drugs such as theobromine, a naturally-occurring constituent of chocolate that resembles caffeine. Ingredients listed are Tribulus, Cordyceps militaris, Ginger root, Cridimum, Monnier extract, Rhodiola, fenugreek powder, and Avena sativa extract.
I have no idea what “Cridimum” is, but I suspect it’s a misspelling of the medicinal plant genus, Cnidium, whose correct spelling looks like a misspelling. There’s one report in the scientific literature of chemicals of Cnidium monnieri having the ability to relax rabbit corpus cavernosum, the major blood vessel of the penis.
All manner of Cordyceps fungus species have been traditionally linked to all manner of positive benefits in Chinese medicine. High concentrations of chemicals from the fungus can kill cancer cells in the laboratory.
Avina sativa? Plain old oats. Perhaps it’s added for humor since the use of the supplement is consistent with sowing one’s oats.
Troubling Tribulus
Of greatest interest, and timing, is the herbal genus, Tribulus – and I assume the makers are referring to Tribulus terrestris. If you Google Tribulus and testosterone, you’ll see the supplement being sold on its own with the suggestion that it can increase testosterone concentrations in the body.
But just this month, a group from Kingston University in London published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements an analysis of previously published studies on Tribulus terrestris in animals and human subjects.
Unfortunately, the studies available, including one patent application, were so varied in doses, study length, and overall design that a proper meta-analysis of the data was not possible. But the best they could find is weak evidence that Tribulus extract might increase testosterone concentrations when in combination with other supplements. The authors do at least note some work that some dose of the extract can increase release of nitric oxide from blood vessels, an activity that would be consistent with an erectile dysfunction product. But by and large, Tribulus sounds trivial.
As for the FDA’s detection of thiosildenafil in Weekend Warrior, we were unable to reach the company for comment. Their website lists no contact information and their web domain, weekendwarriorformen.com is privately registered. We have tried to contact the company via their web testimonial contact page for comment.
As for consumers and health care professionals, the FDA recommends the following:
Consumers should stop using this product immediately and throw it away. Consumers who have experienced any negative side effects should consult a health care professional as soon as possible.
Health care professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA’s MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:
Complete and submit the report online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
Download form or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178
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EDITOR: Similar products are available over-the-counter in stores here in the Cayman Islands. We have not been able to confirm if “Weekend Warrior” is or has been available here. However similar sexual enhancement products are available and before purchasing you should heed the following warning from local urologist D. Brian Backman he gave on CITN/Cayman27:
“If a person just tries to buy these things without knowing about the safety factors, who knows what’s going to happen.”
