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Previous Volume 339:847-848 September 17, 1998 Number 12 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: Ingestion of -hydroxybutyric acid, marketed as a "body-building supplement," may result in coma and apnea. Its sale has recently been banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but similar alternative products continue to be marketed. After the addition of water and sodium hydroxide, -butyrolactone, a solvent, is converted to -hydroxybutyric acid. Studies suggest that -butyrolactone poisoning can produce a clinical picture similar to that associated with -hydroxybutyric acid.¹

RenewTrient, described on the label as a dietary supplement that "stimulates the body's own natural production of Growth Hormone," contains -butyrolactone. We report a case of central nervous . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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