Toxic L-tryptophan: Shedding Light on a Mysterious Epidemic

[Guest guest]

There are 8 chapters altogether, plus a section on Acknowledgments and

another on Comments by Scientists and Others. On the left hand side of the

webpages are links to all the chapters/sections. There are aslo several links

in each chapter - I have not put in the urls so please go to the websites.

 

I have wondered for years what happened to L-tryptophan. It seems it would

be very helpful to many of those with pain, sleep difficulties,

Fibromyalgia, and many other conditions. Well, I guess now I

know.........except why

is it still not available? or was this just an excuse for the FDA and

Health Canada as they collaborate with Codex.......is this what the future

holds

for Canada and the USA? best wishes, Shan

(http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm)

 

Toxic L-tryptophan: Shedding Light on a Mysterious Epidemic

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/index.cfm)

by William E.Crist

 

Preface by Jeffrey Smith

 

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/PrefacebyJeffreySmith/index\

..cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/PrefacebyJeffreySmith/index\

..cfm) In

chapter 4 of my book Seeds of Deception, I present the story of a deadly

epidemic in 1989 that was linked to an L-tryptophan food supplement produced by

genetically engineered bacterium. Much of the material was based on the

research of William Crist, whose work is reproduced here.

 

Introduction: Was Genetic Engineering the Cause of Contaminated

L-tryptophan and the EMS Epidemic?

 

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/1Introduction/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/1Introduction/index.cfm)

Knowing my long-standing interest in food

purity issues, a friend in California suggested in 1996 that I look into the

cause of the tragic eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) epidemic that had

struck seven years earlier. The outbreak was traced to consumption of

L-tryptophan food supplements produced by a Japanese company using genetically

engineered (GE) bacteria. Exactly what role biotechnology played in the

contamination of the supplement was hotly debated. After thousands of hours of

self-sponsored research, I believe I can shed some light on that issue.

 

Background Information: The EMS Epidemic, Initial Research Studies and

News of Biotech Link

 

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/2BackgroundInformation/inde\

x.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/2BackgroundInformation/inde\

x.cfm)

During the summer

and autumn of 1989, an outbreak of a tragic and mysterious disease swept

across the U.S. First scores, then hundreds of people fell seriously ill with

a rare blood and muscle disorder. Doctors and hospital staffs were baffled

by the unusual cluster of symptoms and were largely ineffective in

treating the victims.

 

The Pre-epidemic Cases: A Key to the EMS Puzzle?

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/3Pre-epidemicCases-KeytoEMS\

Puzzle/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/3Pre-epidemicCases-KeytoEMS

Puzzle/index.cfm)

**The existence of cases

prior to those that constituted the great bulk of the epidemic is one of the

most peculiar and interesting aspects of the EMS outbreak.**

— Edwin M. Kilbourne,1 epidemiologist, Center for Disease

Control

For more than a decade now, researchers have been puzzled by cases of EMS

that occurred for several years prior to the epidemic.

 

Where Did the Contaminants Come From?

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/4WhereDidtheContaminant

sComeFrom/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/4WhereDidtheContaminantsCom\

eFrom/index.cfm)

**Although the [20kg/batch] powdered carbon may have contributed to the

removal of the etiological [causal] agent, it does not explain how the agent

was introduced into the product.**

—Edward Belongia, M.D., et al., The New England Journal of Medicine 1

It*s been more than a decade since Belongia and his colleagues raised this

salient point about what created the contaminants that caused EMS.

Surprisingly, few researchers have addressed it.

 

Problems with Identifying and Testing for Trace Contaminants

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/5ProblemswithIdentification\

Testing/in

dex.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/5ProblemswithIdentification\

Testing/index.cfm)

**I must emphasize that the presence of the contaminants

in the [showa Denko] L-tryptophan is astonishingly small and so you require

very sophisticated instrumentation and a lot of hard work to even come

close to determining the structures.** —

Stephen Naylor, Mayo Clinic1

 

Government Agencies Disagree on Cause of EMS

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/6GovtAgenciesDisagreeonEMSC\

ause/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/6GovtAgenciesDisagreeonEMSC\

ause/i

ndex.cfm) The FDA*s

finding that control L-tryptophan itself was a contributing factor to the

syndrome is surprising, because it is inconsistent with the epidemiological

evidence linking production lots of implicated L-TRP to cases of EMS. Earlier

studies by leading researchers, including those at the Center for Disease

Control (CDC), clearly suggested that L-tryptophan itself was not responsible

for EMS and that the disease was caused by contaminant(s) in a single

manufacturer’s L-TRP.1-3

 

Unanswered Letters to Government Officials

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/7UnansweredLetterstoGovtOf

ficials/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/7UnansweredLetterstoGovtOff\

icials/index.cfm)

This section includes three letters sent to

government regulatory authorities and researchers concerning:

(1) key information and/or data that appears to have been concealed from

the public regarding L-tryptophan and the EMS epidemic, and

(2) discrepancies in the interpretation of research data and in the

procurement of samples of Showa Denko's (SDK) genetically engineered strains of

bacteria. After several months, and now years, no one from either the

National Centers for Disease Control or the Food and Drug Administration has

answered several key, material questions.

 

Conclusion: Who’s Responsible?

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/8ConclusionWhosResponsib

le/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/8ConclusionWhosResponsible/\

index.cfm)

What created the biologically potent trace

contaminants in Showa Denko L-tryptophan that inflicted a seriously

debilitating

disease at such low dosages of a food supplement?

Researchers still do not know. Some, like Gleich and Maryanski, have

stated that genetic engineering can’t be ruled out as a causal factor, though

they favor other scenarios, usually the manufacturer’s inadequate

purification system.

 

Acknowledgments

 

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/Acknowledgments/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/Acknowledgments/index.cfm)

Addendum: Comments by Scientists and Other Professionals

 

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/CommentsbyScientistsandOthe\

rs/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/CommentsbyScientistsandOthe\

rs/index.cfm)

(http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

The timing of the ban is also an issue. At the time L- tryptophan was used as a

mood inhancer. LEF looks at this here

http://www.lef.org/fda/fdaban95.html

 

The FDA Ban of L-Tryptophan: Politics, Profits and Prozac

Posted on LEF April 6 1998

 

 

 

By: Dean Wolfe Manders, Ph.D.

 

 

, joe dennis <turtle3fish

wrote:

>

>  You are right , the bacterial contamination L-tryptotophan was just an

excuse the FDA needed to oppress our choice of natural supplements.You can still

get it from a doctor with a prescription.

>  

> Instead of increasing quailty control in checking for contamination ,theFDA

chosed to ban it with out a prescription.

>  

>  There were more deaths from contaminated hamburg at Jack in the Box ;so why

wasn't hamburg ban except with a prescription.

>

> --- On Wed, 5/13/09, bestsurprise2002 <bestsurprise2002 wrote:

>

>