Dear Mary-Anne:
I apologize giving you a shock with my revelation that I have tasted
most of the chemicals that I have synthesized for the purpose of doing
research in pharmacology and biochemistry. I used some precautions when I
heard about the Swiss chemist who had the same bad habit; the compound he
tasted was LSD. Further, I did not taste compounds of known high toxicity or
where only a fraction of a milligram was suspected. I never had any toxic
reaction,although one of my close colleagues became very ill from tasting a
compound that potently inhibited oxidative phosphorylation, which is very
dangerous to the brain. He recovered in 2 days.
I virtually eliminated the practice after that (about 1958, when I
was 30 years old; I've survived till 67. In response to you and your
husband's concern that my chemical tasting contributed to the deverlopment
of PD - it cannot be ruled out. A systematic study would have to be done,
and that would be illegal today. Since PD is such a complex disease with
possibly multiple sites of action, your suggestion is important, but it is
not testable.>>
>> In reply to Charlotte's queries about my use of NADH for PD: I use none of
>> it or ever have or ever intend to. I took a taste, about 3 mg, probably in
>> 1956 after I had synthesized some for a biochemical experiment on rat brain
>> mitochondria (I take a taste of most chemicals I synthesize). The NADH had a
>> somewhat salty taste but no further effect. The mitochondria showed the
>> expected stimulation of oxygen consumption. I had no symptoms of PD at that
>> time, nor for 34 years subsequently.
>> With best wishes and, again my apologies Steven
[[log in to unmask]]
>> >
>
>Please forgive this late response to your post (I finally have a chance to
>read all of my mail), but I was a bit shocked when I read it. You would
>take a taste of the chemicals you synthesized?? Do you think that action
>might have contributed to your PD? I should explain that my husband is a
>physical chemist who is convinced that his PD probably resulted from the
>chemical experiments he did as a post-doc.
> -----
> Regards
>Mary Ann
>
>
