ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – A local physician says there are plenty of lessons to be learned from NBA star Lamar Odom’s medical reaction to allegedly mixing over-the-counter sexual performance enhancement drugs with cocaine and alcohol.
The FDA has warned against taking herbal Viagra supplements, they’re made from what’s called “horny goat weed” along with other compounds like yohimbe.
“Goat weed has actually got something that looks like Viagra and behaves like Viagra,” says SLU Care endocrinologist Dr. John Morley. “It’s called icariin and it will lower your blood pressure so that is one of the problems. Yohimbe can actually increase your blood pressure quite dramatically.”
Odom reportedly remained in a medically induced coma Thursday days after being found unconscious at a brothel in Nevada.
According to hospital officials, the 35-year-old Odom remains in critical condition and is on life support at the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas.
Nye County Sheriff’s Office said Wed. that brothel workers reported Odom had been doing cocaine.
“We’ve got to realize that with Odom he was also taking cocaine,” Morley says. “When you take cocaine and you take yohimbe together your chances of having a heart attack or a stroke go up astronomically.”
Morley says the real concern about herbal supplements is they are not tested by the FDA.
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