Yoon BW, Bae HJ, Hong KS, et al. Phenylpropanolamine contained in cold remedies and risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Neurology. 2007;68:146-149.
Phenylpropanolamine (PPA), an ingredient frequently found in cold remedies, has been shown to increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, specifically in women. These new findings are the result of a Korean study that examined 940 male and female hemorrhagic stroke patients. This study is separate from previous research, which correlated appetite suppressants containing PPA to an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke in women. In the Korean study, none of the stroke patients had been using appetite suppressants; their PPA exposure was from cold remedies.
This investigation found that the women who were exposed to PPA within 14 days of their strokes had more than double the normal risk of stroke. The risk in the men exposed to PPA did not have a significant increase, even though they had had relatively the same amount of exposure as the women in the study.
The previous study about PPA content in appetite suppressants increasing stroke risk had similar results. However, it did not include a significant enough number of male participants.