The Connection between Aspartame (Artificial Sweetener) & Panic Attacks, Depre

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The Connection between Aspartame (Artificial Sweetener) and Panic Attacks,

Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Memory Problems, and Other Mental Symptoms

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/aspartame.htm

 

(The following article is a letter to the editor written to Time Magazine. It

is posted here because of its excellent references on the relationship

between aspartame and mental symptoms. Further references are at the end of this

article)

 

by Betty Martini, Founder Mission Possible International

9270 River Club Parkway Duluth, Georgia 30097

770 242-2599 www.dorway.com

 

 

I have read your article on Young and Bipolar, Aug 19, 2002. It says: " Once

called manic depression, the disorder afflicted adults. Now it's striking kids.

Why? "

 

I personally believe the answer is obvious, but Time has known the true facts

on aspartame for years and refuses to publish them.

 

If you had the ability to publish the truth, I would tell you to get in touch

with psychiatrist Ralph Walton, M.D.. He is Professor and Chairman,

Department of Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. In

one

statement he said: " We have known for years that when aspartame is ingested with

a carbohydrate rich meal the usual physiologic increase in tryptophan is

blocked, while brain phenylalanine and tyrosine concentrations are increased.

These changes in amino acid neurotransmitter precursors could, I believe, alter

indoleamine/catecholamine balance, and thus have a profound effect on mood and

cognition ... depressed mood, anxiety, dizziness, panic attacks, nausea,

irritability, impairment of memory and concentration. "

 

Of course, bipolar is an affective disorder in which the patient exhibits

both manic and depressive episodes.

 

Aspartame has 50% phenylalanine which as an isolate is neurotoxic and goes

directly into the brain. Dr. Richard Wurtman of MIT explained this to Congress

in l985 and has done a great deal of research. He undoubtedly would not give an

interview today. Perhaps if you read about him in the United Press

International 8 month investigation of aspartame you would understand why. It's

on

www.dorway.com You see the phenylalanine also lowers the seizure threshold and

Dr.

Wurtman wanted to do seizure studies. He was threatened by Searle that if he

did his research funds would be rejected and they were. But MIT is getting

research funds now. The phenylalanine also depletes serotonin. And when you

deplete serotonin it triggers MANIC DEPRESSION, anxiety, hallucinations, panic

attacks, insomnia, paranoia, mood swings and even suicidal tendencies.

 

So Dr. Wurtman was very interested in the seizure issue and serotonin issue.

Back in l986 he was a real tiger and he understood very well that if you

wanted valid research you needed independent studies. I have a copy of his

introductory comments presented to the FDA on April 21, l986 in which he said:

 

" The present system, in which the companies that sell our synthetic foods -

like NutraSweet - fund virtually ALL of the studies, FDA-mandated or not, of

their safety is too vulnerable to misuse: As we can discuss, if you like, when

outside investigators propose studies that might yield the " wrong " answer, a

large bag of " dirty tricks " is available for derailing those studies. We hope

that the evolving aspartame study will provide impetus for a new mechanism, in

which companies that manufacture new, synthetic food constituents (like

NutraSweet's manufacturer, Monsanto), or those that insert it into their foods

(like

Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola, or the makers of Kool-Aid or Crystal Lite) will be

obligated to support the research that affirms their product's safety, but will

not be allowed to choose exactly what studies are done, nor who conducts

them. "

 

Dr. Wurtman left us a lovely paper trail in the book Dietary Phenylalanine

and Brain Function, edited by Richard J. Wurtman and Eva Ritter-Walker,

Birkhauser.

 

H. J. Roberts, M.D., who declared Aspartame Disease to be a global plague has

written the medical text, Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic,

www.aspartameispoison.com or www.sunsentpress.com or

1 800 814 - 9800.

 

There are chapters on the psychiatric and behavioral problems triggered by

aspartame, drug interaction, and of course, the issue of bipolar and aspartame.

And he brings out that there is considerable information existing concerning

marked neuropsychologic changes when dopamine-serotonin balance is altered. And

he says that decreased brain serotonin has been associated with insomnia,

depression, anxiety, panic attacks, hallucinations, suicidal attempts, hostility

and psychopathic states like Dr. Walton.

 

And Dr. Roberts also quotes Dr. Wurtman. He says that aspartame and its

components can lower brain serotonin levels through several mechanisms:

 

" * Dr. Richard Wurtman demonstrated that aspartame inhibits the

carbohydrate-induced synthesis of serotonin (Congressional Record - Senate

1985a, P. S

5511). Serotonin is an important component of the feedback system that helps

limit

one's consumption of carbohydrate to appropriate levels by blunting the

carbohydrate craving.

 

* The amino acid tyrosine, derived from phenylalanine, reduces the amount of

tryptophan that can cross the blood-brain barrier for utilization in serotonin

production. "

 

Dr. Roberts says that the mounting scientific evidence for altered brain

dopamine concentrations in mental illness is relevant.

 

" * The injection of dopamine (a metabolite of phenylalanine) into the brain

ventricles of humans can precipitate psychotic epidoes, including

hallucinations.

 

* Wong et al (l986) studies the D2 dopamine receptor density in the caudate

nucleus of normal volunteers and patients with schizophrenia by positron

emission tomography (PET). Higher densities were noted in the schizophrenic

group,

even without prior neuroleptic drug treatment.

 

* Several aspartame reactors with severe neuropsychiatric features evidence

brain changes by SPECT imaging studies.

 

* .. Dopaminergic influences in aspartame and other addictions (discussed in

VII-G)

 

* More numerous D2 dopamine receptors have been found in the basal ganglia of

schizophrenic patients obtained at postmortem examination, compared to

persons having no history of neurologic or psychiatric disease. "

 

He also quotes Dr. Walton and says with regard to other changes:

 

" Dr. Ralph G. Walton (l986) urged physicians to bear in mind " the possible

impact of aspartame on catecholamine and indolamine metabolism, and inquire

about use of this artificial sweetener when assessing patients with affective

disorders. "

 

The brain edema and vascular stasis due to chronic methanol intake ( 10% of

aspartame) could contribute to the neuropsychiatric manifestations of aspartame

reactors.

 

The observation that tryptophan depletion in nonalcoholic young men can

induce behavioral changes is pertinent in view of the depletion of tryptophan by

aspartame consumption. "

 

I might add at this point that Dr. Roberts says that suicide has become a

public health crisis. One occurs ever 17 minutes in the US, ranking it third

among causes of death for young people and second for college students.

Accordingly, any substance that may contribute to suicide cannot be ignored,

particularly when consumed in large amounts.

 

Now consider that Parents Magazine in Sept, 1999 wrote an article titled

What's Happening To Our Children? They said that almost every family in the US

has

been affected and that by the time a child reaches the 4th level of high

school, one out of four has contemplated suicide.

 

Remember that aspartame is used by 2/3rds of the population and 40% of our

children. I hope this helps you to understand this epidemic. So whatever is

happening to adults will also happen to children. Aspartame simply destroys the

brain and this was proven in a study by Searle in South America although they

did not publish it. An affidavit from the translator is on www.dorway.com A few

months a study in Norway also showed that aspartame destroys the brain,

especially in the areas of learning. In l970 the famed Dr. John Olney who

founded

the field of neuroscience called excitotoxicity did the studies on aspartic

acid which is 40% of aspartame and found that it caused lesions in the brains of

mice. It is an excitotoxin.

 

Russell Blaylock, M.D., neurosurgeon wrote the book on excitotoxicity:

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, www.amazon.com And he too goes into the

effect

of aspartame on the brains of our children and even admits that it triggers

such things as ADD and autism. I have heard both Doctors Roberts and Blaylock

say that many people in mental hospitals today are simply aspartame victims.

 

Aspartame also triggers such things as brain hemorrhage, stroke and

aneurysms, so you would expect the same thing in children. Not much shocks me

but I

know industry had to stay up a lot of nights to come up with the excuse heard on

TV over two months ago. It was stated that young children are having brain

hemorrhages, aneurysms and strokes in increasing proportions but researchers say

that the cause of this is that children get scared on roller coasters. Why

they used such stupidity I don't know as it definitely insults the intelligence

of the general public.

 

In Dr. Roberts discussion of Mania and " Bipolar " Depression in his medical

text are these comments:

 

" Several aspartame reactors in this series had " bipolar " depression wherein

the depression would alternate with periods of manic behavioral characterized

by intense excitement and overactivity. As many as two million Americas suffer

manic-depression.

 

" The ability of phenylalanine to stimulate the central nervous system,

directly or through its conversion to other neurotransmitters is germane.

 

" Some studies suggest that bipolar and unipolar affective disorders are

distinct entities - that is, in terms of familial prevalence, genetics

(including

twin studies), prognosis, and response to treatment (Schwartz 1987). Several

observations are pertinent

 

" * Women outnumber men with unipolar depression by about two to one.

* Difference in unipolar and bipolar depression are reinforced by positron

emission tomography studies (Schwartz 1987). Patients with unipolar depression

have significantly higher local cerebral metabolic rates for glucose, but these

are reduced in bipolar depression. Accordingly, a further reduction of the

cerebral metabolic rate caused by aspartame or its by products might precipitate

clinical depression in pre-disposed individuals.

 

* A subset of manic-depression appears linked to a dominant gene on the tip

of the short arm of chromosome 11. The tyrosine hydroxylase gene which cascades

the synthesis of dopamine, exists in this region. "

* Whereas the cyclic antidepressants are more effective than lithium in

unipolar depression, they tend to cause more behavioral disturbances in bipolar

depression.

 

Dr. Roberts gives the case history of a 67 year old man that had been treated

for bipolar depression, essential tremor and a labyrinthine syndrome. He

fared well for several years on small doses of propranolol and lithium. He says

that one month prior to his June 1986 visit, the tremor and vertigo intensified,

coupled with " increased mood elevation. " On direct questioning, he admitted

to recent consumption of aspartame products. His symptoms promptly subsided

when he avoid them and did not recur over the ensuing year, notwithstanding

enormous stress because of his wife's serious illness during that period.

 

Dr. Ralph Walton did a study on aspartame discussed in this medical text.

 

" Walton, Hudock, and Green-Waite (1993) dramatically demonstrated the adverse

effect of aspartame intake in patients with a history of depression. They

administered aspartame (30 mg/kg) daily or a placebo for seven days in a

double-blind challenge to 40 patients with unipolar depression and a similar

number of

persons without a history of psychiatric problems. The NutraSweet Company

apparently refused to supply these researchers with aspartame, so analytically

certified USP grade aspartame was purchased from a chemical distributor.

 

" The frequency and severity of depression, headache, nervousness, difficulty

in remembering, insomnia, fatigue and malaise were striking among patients

with a history of depression after ingesting aspartame, compared to the placebo,

both in these patients and nondepressed volunteers. Persons without a history

of depression did not manifest frequent or severe symptoms when given

aspartame. The severity of reactions among patients with a history of depression

proved sufficiently alarming that the Institutional Review Board had to halt

this

project prematurely.

 

" * Three participants spontaneously volunteered that they felt " poisoned "

after taking the product later determined to be aspartame.

* A 42 year old Ph.D. psychologist with a history of recurrent severe

depression experienced pain in one eye, followed by retinal detachment requiring

emergency surgery.

* Another depressed patient evidenced conjunctival bleeding for the first

time during the week she ingested aspartame.

* Individual patients with a history of depression experienced swollen lips,

a bad taste in the mouth, facial numbness, weight gain and irritability -

complaints not reported by nondepressed volunteers.

 

" This experience also has raised questions about the nature of the aspartame

supplied for published " negative " double-blind studies. "

 

Perhaps you can understand now why aspartame manufacturers have fought to

prevent independent, corporate neutral research.

 

Dr. Roberts continues but since this is getting long I'm sure you can see the

bottom line. He is stresssing that the decrease of serotonin by aspartame

administration has considerable relevance to depression and other psychological

problems. He mentions that Smith et al (1997) reported that the rapid lowering

of brain serotonin can precipitate clinical depressive symptoms in untreated

individuals vulnerable to major depression. Also that aspartame decreases the

availability of L-tryptophan (a precursor of serotonin) and alters its balance

with norepinephrine, another important neurotransmitter. Also that some have

likened its effects to that of a lesion in the lateral hypothalamus causing

depression, other psychiatric problems, and eating disorders. Dr. Walton I know

has written about this and the report is on web.

 

You might want to read The Lancet 1987;2:949-950 where Dr. Roberts says there

is considerable evidence for the diminished turnover of brain serotonin in

depression and behavioral disturbances, including suicide.

 

Could it get any worse? Yes, how could a physician treat these patients if he

didn't know about aspartame since it interacts with antidepressants. For

instance, the serotonin elevating action of fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating

depression could be counteracted by aspartame. It can block tryptophan entry

into

the brain, thereby inhibiting synthesis of serotonin! This is discussed in the

chapter on drug interaction and antidepressant drugs. Aspartame interacts with

just about every drug used to treat the problems it causes!

 

Obviously after 20 years on the market we know what aspartame does. Doctors

who have seen aspartame victims in the trenches of medical practice for years

are experts and constantly alert the public through writings. But we have a

reluctant press who could have done something about this issue years ago. Dr. P.

Maxwell Foshay, Editor, Cleveland Journal of Medicine said it the best way

back in 1900:

 

" It will thus be seen that medical journalism is in a state of chaos ... The

greed for advertising patronage leads, the editor only too often to prostitute

his pen or his pages to the advertiser, so long as he can secure the coveted

revenue. "

 

In 1999 Time Magazine was on www.dorway.com investigating an email that made

world news on the World Environmental Conference. It was signed Nancy Markle

but I was the one who lectured. Time's Mrs. Gorman admitted that she had seen

an almost identical post which was my original. So she knew I was the author

and instead of calling me wrote that it was a hoax. Basically it read like a

Monsanto commercial down to " Sweeten Your Life Without Shortening It " . A good

example of reverse psychology. Flooded with mail Time refused to retract their

misinformation stumbling many consumers back on aspartame only to suffer such

things as grand mal seizures. Mission Possible gave Time Magazine the award for

The Most Irresponsible Journalism - 1999, and were added to the Hall of

Shame.

 

Monsanto could not put out the fire, however, because the email saturated the

globe and sold the NutraSweet Company. But as Mohammed Ali once said: " They

can run but they can't hide. " Today we are taking case histories for class

action having to do with the brain tumors, blindness, eye deterioration and

seizures.

 

Because aspartame is also an abortifacient millions of babies have been

murdered in their mother's womb. Dr. James Bowen said in Aspartame Murders

Infants

on web:

 

" At every point in the fertility process aspartame destroys, beginning with

the gleam in Mom and Pop's eyes, it ruins female sexual response and induces

male sexual dysfunction. Beyond this, aspartame disrupts fetal development by

aborting it or inducing defects. And if a live child is born aspartame may have

heinously damaged the DNA of the baby, cursing future generations. "

 

It's a shame that Time Magazine doesn't consider the lives of our children to

be more important than the advertising funds of such companies as NutraSweet,

Coke and Pepsi, for example.

 

Today aspartame is estimated to be in 9000 products and climbing and 100

countries of the world. It is in pediatric prescription drugs like pediatric

penicillin, Augmentin, chewable Tylenol, chewable Benadryl, pediatric vitamins,

etc. Our children don't have a chance.

 

If you go to www.greatfallspro.com (Mission Possible Maine) you can download

Dr. John Olney's entire report to the Board of Inquiry of the FDA. Here you

can read his prophecy of what will happen to the brains of our children if

aspartame is approved, and this prophecy has now been fulfilled.

 

I don't expect for Time Magazine to expose the aspartame issue to the public

because they have known the real facts for years and only added to

misinformation. So I leave you with the words of Patrick Henry:

 

" Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. "

 

Further References:

 

Book: Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, www.aspartameispoison.com or

www.sunsentpress.com or 1 800 814 - 9800.

 

Web site: http://www.aspartamesafety.com/

 

The following posts cover various symptoms reportedly caused by aspartame:

 

Anxiety - http://nancymarkle.com/hulse.txt

Anxiety - http://nancymarkle.com/wolverto.txt

Nerve damage - http://nancymarkle.com/raiford.txt

Neuropsychiatric disorders - http://nancymarkle.com/blayenn.txt

Panic attacks - http://nancymarkle.com/drake.html

Psychiatric complaints - http://nancymarkle.com/roberts-headach.txt