Ok Guys, Let's Talk Bipolar (Article published by SAFE Harbor I wrote on bipolar)

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Article I did for Safe Harbor on Bipolar:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Connection between Aspartame (Artificial

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The Connection between Aspartame (Artificial

Sweetener) and Panic Attacks, Depression, Bipolar

Disorder, Memory Problems, and Other Mental Symptoms

 

(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)

 

 

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by Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder

Mission Possible International

9270 River Club Parkway

Duluth, Georgia 30097

770 242-2599

<http://www.dorway.com>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

<http://www.dorway.com>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,

<http://www.aspartameispoison.com>www.aspartameispoison.com

or <http://www.sunsentpress.com>www.sunsentpress.com or

 

 

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

<http://www.dorway.com>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, <http://www.amazon.com>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

stressing 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

<http://www.dorway.com>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. www.dorway.com/nomarkle.html

 

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

<http://www.greatfallspro.com>www.mpwhi.com and

scroll down to banners you can read 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,

<http://www.aspartameispoison.com>www.aspartameispoison.com

or <http://www.aspartameispoison.com>www.sunsentpress.com.

 

Web site: <http://www.mpwhi.com/>www.mpwhi.com

 

Update 2007: New article by Psychiatrist Ralph

Walton, M.D. on aspartame and psychiatric disease

and

bipolar.

http://www.mpwhi.com/aspartame_and_psychiatric_disorders.htm

Also, his article in " Report for

Schools " , articles by the experts on aspartame

on how it destroys the brains of the unborn and

our children:

http://www.mpwhi.com/report_on_aspartame_and_children.htm

This also has an indepth article by the ADD

people, Feingold who banned aspartame from their diet years ago.

 

The whole story of how this addictive

excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug that interacts

with " all " antidepressants got on the market

through the political chicanery of Don Rumsfeld

is in the movie, Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World, www.soundandfury.com

 

In July 2007 a 25 year old actress, Abby Cormack

in New Zealand almost died from aspartame and was

about to be diagnosed as bipolar. She saw the

list of 92 symptoms by the FDA on our web site

and got off of it and her bipolar symptoms

disappeared. I flew to New Zealand and lectured

with Abby and Sue Kedgley from Parliament in

Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, New

Zealand. There so many aspartame bipolar cases

there. Here is her

story:

http://www.mpwhi.com/abby_cormack_story.htm Here

is what the aspartame experts said about

Abby: http://www.mpwhi.com/experts_on_aspartame_and_abby_cormack.htm

 

Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder

Mission Possible International

9270 River Club Parkway

Duluth, Georgia 30097

770 242-2599

www.mpwhi.com, www.dorway.com and www.wnho.net

Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

Aspartame Information List, www.mpwhi.com scroll down to banners

 

 

 

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