Parkinson's Disease, Michael Fox, MS And The Aspartame Story
From Betty Martini
[log in to unmask], Mission Possible International

Dear Oprah,  Today, you interviewed Michael Fox, a former Diet Pepsi 
spokesman. Informants say he is addicted to it. Indeed, how could Michael 
Fox develop Parkinson's at the age of 30, an old man's disease? But 
aspartame (NutraSweet/Equal, etc.) can precipitate Parkinson's and as a 
neurotoxic drug even interacts with L-dopa. And then there was Millie and 
Morton Kondracke with Millie also developing Parkinson's at an age too young 
for the disease. In fact, it was mentioned that her child has a learning 
disorder and aspartame is a large trigger of ADD. Did she use it during 
pregnancy. A recent study in Norway has shown that aspartame destroys the 
brain, especially in the areas of learning. This certainly accounts for the 
global epidemic of Attention Deficit Disease. Denise developed Multiple 
Sclerosis at age 34, the last lady you interviewed yesterday. Below is a 
recent study of someone who was told she had MS but note the results when 
she abstained from aspartame.
What is the common denominator in these folks, and three others who worked 
with Michael Fox and also developed Parkinson's Disease? You're looking for 
a neurotoxin/excitotoxin. An excitotoxin is a product that literally 
stimulates the neurons of the brain to death causing brain damage of varying 
degrees. It was the famed Dr. John Olney who founded the field of 
neuroscience called excitotoxicity. He did studies on aspartic acid, 40% of 
aspartame, and found it caused lesions in the brains of mice. It is an 
excitotoxin. Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D., wrote the book on it, 
Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills. He discusses Parkinson's Disease at 
length.
Dr. Blaylock gives several points on the disease. He says "Parkinson's 
Disease is a disorder whose cause appears from substantial evidence, to be 
related to excitotoxicity. These toxins destroy the cells in the brain 
central to this disease. Excitotoxins cause these brain cells to generate 
enormous amounts of free radicals. This is true of MSG and aspartic acid 
(aspartame).There is substantial circumstantial evidence that dietary 
excitotoxins, including aspartame, can aggravate these destructive changes 
in the Parkinson's brain. The additional toxins - DKP, aspartate, methanol, 
formaldehyde and formic acid - add to this injury. Recent evidence 
demonstrates that the aspartame product, formaldehyde - accumulates within 
cells and damages protein and DNA. "
Aspartame is being used by 2/3rds of the population today and 40% of our 
children, and is a deadly neurotoxic drug. It interacts with just about 
every drug used to treat the symptoms and diseases it triggers. How could 
the FDA allow this? Here is information from former FDA Investigator, Arthur 
Evangelista on how the FDA is suppose to handle investigation of 
neurotoxins:
Subject: FDA Toxicolgy Draft on Food Additives Toxicological Principles For 
Safety Assessment of Direct Food Additives and Color Additives Used in Foods 
Redbook II DRAFT 1993 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition
This document...is intended to provide guidance regarding criteria used for 
safety assessment of direct food additives and color additives used in 
food...... Chapter V: pg. 149 A. Introduction
"The Agency (FDA) recognizes that information about metabolism and 
pharmacokinetics, neurotoxicity, and immunotoxicity are significant 
endpoints in assessing the safety of direct food additives and color 
additives used in food...."
1. Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics "FDA believes that data from studies on 
absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of chemicals can provide 
insight into mechanisms of toxicity and are essential in the design and 
evaluation of results from other toxicity studies. Such studies should be 
provided for all direct food additives and color additives used in foods 
that are assigned to Concern Levels II or III.
Recommendation for obtaining data on the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of 
these substances are presented in this document. In general, the agency 
recommends that this information be obtained before subchronic and chronic 
toxicity tests are begun."
C. Neurotoxicity Studies paragraph 3: "Until recently, neurotoxicity was 
equated with neuropathy involving frank neuropathological lesions or overt 
neurological dysfunctions, such as seizure, paralysis or tremor." Examples 
of chemically induced neuropathy in humans (for example, from exposure to 
lead, organic mercury, hexane, carbon disulfide, and 
tri-ortho-cresylphosphate) emphasize the need for assessing the neurotoxic 
potential of chemicals to which humans may be exposed. Although neuropathy 
is appropriately recognized as a manifestation of neurotoxicity, it is now 
clear that there are numerous other signs of nervous system toxicity. Motor 
incoordination, sensory deficits, learning and memory dysfunctions, changes 
in emotion and altered states of arousal are also recognized as indices of 
neurotoxicity. Continued reliance on neuropathy as the primary criterion of 
neurotoxicity is overly simplistic and may significantly underestimate the 
neurotoxic potential of a chemical in adult or developing organisms."
paragraph 8: "Because of the impact that nervous system toxicity can have on 
human health, assessing the neurotoxic potential of a chemical proposed for 
use in food or color additive should be an essential element in that 
chemical's toxicological profile...."
Commentary by Arthur Evangelista, Former FDA Investigator
The written words of this text, serving as a guide to Food and Drug 
Regulatory Policies, is noble, and scientifically accurate...with one 
exception. The FDA has disregarded its own rulings, guidelines, and policies 
for protecting the public health, and has, instead, become partners with 
industry at such a level, which basically renders this well written draft, 
totally useless. Although, FDA is not alone in disregarding its policies in 
favor of politics and corporate influences, is has, nevertheless, created a 
corrupted system of public health regulations which has served to only 
exacerbate the complications of chemical additives in foods, and collaborate 
with industry for their profits and market gains.
In fact, Aspartame (aka: Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, Canderal, Benevia, et 
al) a neurotoxin by nature, is extremely damaging to the central nervous 
system, and subsequent neural-dependent systems like endocrine and liver 
functions. That the very fact aspartame is in our food supply, implies an 
un-regulatory agency which better serves the industry that it was supposed 
to be regulating.
Anyone thinking about how the United States government, and political muscle 
has assisted firms, like G.D. Searle, Monsanto, and other agri-chemical 
companies nationally and internationally, has got to ask, Why ? Since when 
do government agencies actively support and promote private industry on such 
a high level ?
The reason is due to the political nature of these businesses, and their 
very close association to government agencies and political bodies. In fact, 
many of these firms are run with former or active members of government, and 
vise-versa, when employees "leave" the firm, and join the regulatory or 
political agendas of our government, as federal workers. We have a cancer in 
our society, and this is the cause of the cancer...." the wolf is watching 
the sheep ". And, as in the function of FDA, this does not work; nor will it 
ever work. It is not only impractical, but ludicrous. Enforcement of 
industry, can not come from close association or within industry. It is not 
possible to objectively enforce regulations when collaboration exists 
between government agencies and corporations. It also does not help when 
corporations can infuse large amounts of PAC, soft-money contributions, and 
other types of graft or bribery for politicians, who in turn, affect the 
regulatory policies through actions in Congress.
As a former FDA official, I have personally witnessed watering down of 
public-benefit policies, only to render them ineffective. I have witnessed 
reports being altered, statements changed, and lies told, regarding 
investigations and regulation applications. This is a corrupted system of 
public health, and the cancer is in the policy makers and influences of 
corporate money flowing to the White House.
Arthur Evangelista
[log in to unmask]
April 4, 2002
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the 
responsibility of every American to be informed." -- Thomas Jefferson
Unfortunately, Oprah, those responsible to solve the problem ARE the 
problem!
In a conversation with Dr. James Bowen after your show he said: "The 
aspartame molecule is a highly synergized combination of neurotoxins. The 
first of these is wood alcohol or methanol. For over a century this 
molecule, in and of itself, has been known to cause virtually all the 
degenerative changes from chronic alcoholism. In addition, any exposure to 
this, even in trace amounts is noted to result in dementia, insanity, 
blindness, retinal deterioration, degenerative disease of virtually every 
system of the body and various autoimmune disorders and is often fatal. 
Methanol is noted as the number one chemical that causes autoimmune 
disorders of the pancreas and myelin sheath.
The FDA rules do not allow any methanol to be incorporated into foods. 
Moreover, any chemical containing any amount of methanol must have a poison 
label displayed prominently on it with a skull and crossbones prominently 
displayed and the words "warning poisonous, contains methanol, methyl 
alcohol, do not drink, get on skin or inhale vapors. Warning: Cannot be made 
non poisonous." The synergism between methanol and the other poisonous 
elements in NutraSweet end up producing an alcohol poisoning, about 20,000 
times as potent as regular old sipping alcohol, ethanol. In the digestive 
tract aspartame is broken down into about ten other poisons, so normally 
would not be absorbed as the entire intact molecule from the digestive 
tract. Not everybody has efficient digestion and may get some directly from 
the digestive tract. Moreover, some forms its isomer diketopiperazine both 
in the can and in the digestive tract. This diketopiperazine form, which is 
the most toxic form of aspartame, is absorbed intact directly from the 
digestive tract.
Also, in some amount, perhaps 1 milligram or so, aspartame is absorbed 
directly through the mouth while drinking a glass of pop. This is called 
buccal absorption. The poisonous potential of the aspartame molecule is so 
great, that even this small amount of aspartame is a significant poisoning. 
People who have been sensitized from aspartame poisoning will often react in 
a matter of a few seconds when they first start using some inadvertently. 
This demonstrates the potency of the very small amount absorbed buccally. 
The aspartic acid component of the molecule is a dicarboxylic amino acid 
excitotoxin. The phenylalanine isolate poisoning from the molecule renders 3 
damages to the brain. One is the PKU effect, the second is malnutrition of 
the brain by virtue of competitive inhibition at the blood brain barrier and 
third, by direct amino acid dynamics at enzymes sites it biochemically 
suppresses the formation of serotonin and dopamine. The summation of these 
ill effects results in a lot of people who get MS and Parkinson Disease 
directly from aspartame exposure. It has been my personal experience that 
people afflicted with neurologic disorders such as MS, Parkinson's disease 
and Lou Gehrigs will markedly deteriorate if they start and use aspartame. 
Stopping it almost always results in improvement. However, because of 
aspartame induced chemical hypersensitivity disease they are likely to have 
flares in response to numerous other chemical exposures that would otherwise 
seem trivial. Please see articles on http://www.dorway.com I wrote on "sperm 
warfare" and "punditry and Palsies", and I do have one on chemical 
hypersensitivity. Many others get these diseases directly from the metabolic 
poisoning and the autoimmune damages inflicted by aspartame. The fact 
NutraSweet radically depresses dopamine levels and dopamine production in 
the brain means from that biochemical prospective alone that its use will 
nullify the action of anti-Parkinson medications. James Bowen, M.D. "
Three congressional hearings and continued outcry and outrage from the 
public has done nothing to convince the FDA they must be concerned with safe 
food and drugs instead of loyalty to industry and its funds. Ed Horton of 
the Lancet said in an article in May that the FDA takes money from industry 
and endangers the lives of the public. So as would be expected with this 
neurotoxic drug in an estimated 9000 products and climbing, we are now faced 
with what may be one of the largest plagues in world history, already 
declared by H. J. Roberts, M.D. who in l984 was selected as the Best Doctor 
in the US. He has also provided a medical text for consumers and physicians 
titled Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, 
http://www.aspartameispoison.com or http://www.sunsentpress.com or 1 800 
814 - 9800.
No one will be able to put this medical text down as you read about the FDA, 
legal, corporate and bureaucratic obstacles, confused health care 
professionals, flawed research, historical misgivings about aspartame, 
bureaucratic, political and corporate complexities and the real story of how 
Searle/Monsanto got away with mass poisoning consumers in at least 100 
countries of the world. There are so many symptoms and diseases in this 1038 
page book, 8 1/2 by 11, triggered by aspartame, that a review by the Journal 
of Neurosurgery said it was like reading the PDR of adverse reactions.
Dr. Roberts goes in depth about aspartame and Parkinson's Disease. Under 
Pathophysiologic Considerations he says the "pacemaker" for essential tremor 
has been localized among serotonin-activated neurons in the inferior olivary 
nucleus (Longo l985). The bilaterally increased glucose metabolism therein, 
demonstrated by position-emission topographic (PET) studies in patients with 
essential tremor (Boecker l998) probably renders these areas more vulnerable 
to the metabolic effects of aspartame. "
He says: "The alteration of serotonin and dopamine concentrations in the 
brain by phenylalanine and aspartame are reviewed in Chapter XXIII but the 
following observations are germane:
* The enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase converts phenylalanine to tyrosine. 
Tyrosine is first transformed into dihydroxyphenylalanine (levodopa), and 
then to dopamine.
* The two dopamine receptor subtypes (D1 and D2) exert synergistic effects 
on the firing rates of basal ganglia neurons (Walter l987).
* The importance of dopaminergic pathways in severe tremor is further 
suggested by the effectiveness of levodopa in treating both parkinsonism and 
"restless legs" (von Scheele l986).
* There is a reduction of brain dopamine in the presence of high 
concentrations of phenylalanine (Congressional Record-Senate l985b, p. S 
10846).
* Chronic exposure to excess phenylalanine and aspartic acid can decrease 
the levels of serotonin and other neurotransmitters within several regions 
of the brain. These changes, presumably compensatory adaptive mechanisms, 
may disturb important diurnal variations associated with feeding and the 
light/dark cycle.
* An ad by G. D. Searle & Company in the Journal of the American Medical 
Association (Dec 16, l986) implied that excess activity of these excitatory 
amino acids could cause nerve cell destruction resembling the changes in 
degenerative disorders of the nervous system."
Dr. Roberts also says in this medical text: "Additional information 
concerning the prevalence, clinical features and deranged neurochemistry of 
parkinsonism suggest other possible adverse effects by aspartame. They may 
involve presynaptic dopamine deficiency, and alteration of the fine balance 
between dopaminergic and cholinergic systems within the brain. (An 
overbalance by the cholinergic system exists in parkinsonism.)
* The incidence of parkinsonism among younger persons has increased in 
recent years.
* There is greater awareness that patients with Parkinson's disease and 
dementia may manifest some of the "specific" symptoms (such as aphasia and 
visuospacial disturbances) present in Alzheimer's disease (Chui l986, 
Roberts l995b).
* Several authorities believe parkinsonism can be caused by environmental 
toxins that damage the substantia nigra, leading to "abiotrophy" (the 
premature and selective destruction) of functionally related neurons (Calne 
l986). As a case in point, this disorder has occurred in young drug users 
exposed to illicit neurotoxic drugs, especially 
l-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and its metabolic 
product l-methyl-4-phenylpyridine (MPP).
* A comparable interrelationship is the amyotropic lateral 
sclerosis-parkinsonism complex in Guam caused by ingesting one or several 
alanine-derived amino acids (Spencer l987). Such damage may remain 
"subclinical" for several years or decades."
Dr. Roberts goes on to say that other biochemical observations are relevant.
* Aspartame can interfere with dopamine release in the brain. (Chapter 
XXIII).
* Whereas the intraperitoneal administration of phenylalanine to rats in 
doses from 200-500 mg/kg increases basal dopamine release, the 
administration of 100 mg/kg reduces dopamine release (During l987).
* The methyl alcohol derived from aspartame (Chapter XXI) probably plays a 
role. McLean et al (l980) reported parkinsonism and other neurological 
abnormalities in two patients with methanol intoxication. Methyl alcohol 
appears to cause parkinsonism through postsynaptic dysfunction, perhaps by 
interfering with dopamine reuptake at nerve terminals.
* Symmetrical necrosis and hemorrhage of the putamen have been found in a 
number of patients with methanol intoxication. "
And so, Oprah, the experts have spoken. I believe if you would check with 
the other two victims you had on your show as well as the three other 
victims of Parkinson's Disease who once were on a show with Michael Fox, you 
might just find they are all aspartame users. I believe this to be the 
common denominator. I give you the challenge to find out. Well call it 
Oprah's Epidemiological Study!
You will find my original press release on Michael Fox on 
http://www.dorway.com and I discussed the issue on probably 70 international 
radio programs. There was great response from people wanting to help Michael 
Fox, and most doctors who called suggested the use of glyconutrients. I 
would be surprised if some pharmaceutical company made a magic pill as a 
cure, especially with this neurotoxin still on the market and even being 
hidden in such things as artificial and natural flavors.
So many would like to help Michael Fox as well as the millions of other 
suffers of neurodegenerative diseases, that could be triggered by this 
deadly neurotoxin. And we are now taking case histories for class action 
starting with brain tumors, seizures, eye deterioration and blindness 
triggered by aspartame. An investigation could be the beginning of help for 
millions. And remember, Oprah they are now trying to get approved these 
model emergency bills where they can mandate vaccines, and aspartame as a 
chemical hypersensitization agent interacts with these as well, and can 
cause an even greater explosion of neurodegenerative diseases. And remember 
vaccines can trigger autism and aspartame triggers autism. We must protect 
our children.
Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
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