ASPARTAME AND MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

FROM: H. J. Roberts, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.C.C.P.

SUBJECT: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH BETTY MARTINI

Betty has asked me to reply to your valid comments and those of several
other persons with related questions.

I should first indicate that I am a Board-Certified Internist, a member
of the American Academy of Neurology and a member of the Endocrine
Society. I have written on MS for nearly four decades – includinga
chapter in my first text (DIFFICULT DIAGNOSIS; A GUIDE TO THE
INTERPRETATION OF OBSCURE DISEASE, W. B. Saunders, 1958), and a numberof
prior personal research studies pertaining to the pathogenesis of M.S.
You might be interested in these references.

        Roberts, H. J.: Thesyndrome of narcolepsy and diabetogenic
               (“functional”) hyperinsulinism, with special reference
               to obesity, diabetes, idiopathic edema, cerebral
               dysrhythmias, and multiple sclerosis (200 patients).
               Journal of the American Geriatric Society 1964: 12:926-976

        Roberts, H. J.: Onthe etiology, rational treatment and prevention
               of multiple sclerosis: Southern Medical Journal 1966:
               59:940-950

        Roberts, H. J.: Aninquiry into the pathogenesis, rational treatment
               and prevention of multiple sclerosis, with emphasis upon the
               combined role of diabetogenic hyperinsulinism and recurrent
               edema. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 1966:
               14:586-608

Allow me to make several points. First, I have not said that aspartame
products cause Ms rather though they indeed might aggravate or accelerate
the disease. A number of patients in my series of nearly 650aspartame
reactors were incorrectly diagnosed as having MS on the basis of their
various neurological and eye complaints. The following excerptis germane:

        “The frequency with whichan erroneous diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
        was made in aspartame reactorsdeserves special attention. This is
        particularly true amongweight-conscious young women who develop
        visual and neurologic problemswhile consuming considerable amounts
        of aspartame products. In my opinion, this diagnosis ought be
        deferred at least severalmonths after abstinence from aspartame
        to enable sufficient observationfor spontaneous recovery.”

From: Roberts, H.J.: ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET@): IS IT
SAFE? Philadelphia: The Charles Press, 1989, p.p. 109-110

Second, I have reviewed the neurotoxicity of aspartame and its componentsor
derivatives in these three texts and a recently-released 2-cassetteset on
Aspartame Disease. It is not solely a matter of methanol intoxication.

Roberts, H.J.: ASPARTAME(NUTRASWEET@) IS IT SAFE? Philadelphia,
The Charles Press, 1989

        Roberts, H. J.: SWEET’NERDEAREST: BITTERSWEET VIGNETTES ABOUT
        ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET@),West Palm Beach, Sunshine Sentinel Press,
        Inc. 1992 (P. O. Box 17799,West Palm Beach, Fla. 33416, FAX
        (407) 832-2400)

        Roberts, H.J.: DEFENSEAGAINST ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: A RATIONAL
        BLUEPRINT FOR PREVENTION. West Palm Beach, Sunshine Sentinel Press,
        Inc., 1995.

Roberts, H.J.: IS ASPARTAME(NUTRASWEET@) SAFE? A MEDICAL PUBLIC
HEALTH AND LEGAL OVERVIEW- 1995. Sunshine Sentinel Press, Inc.

Third, I fully appreciate the matter of double-blind, randomized trials,
having headed a research institution since l964. The problemswith most
such published studies on aspartame are the flawed protocols. I havereviewed
this issue at great length in the foregoing references – includingsome
disturbing details that qualify as “sciencegate”.

Fourth, at this point, I would consider it unethical on my part to attempt
to provoke an attack on someone under my care who is in a remissionof MS
by administering “real world” aspartame products. (You will probably
disagree.)

Fifth, the subjects of hypoglycemia, insulin in the brain and CSF, the
blood-brain barrier, experimental allergic encephalomyeletic (EAE),etc.
have been raised. They are relevant, but would require at leasta 2-hour
lecture.

A few comments:

*EAR is an experimental model,but quite different from MS in
humans.

*Insulin receptors are widely,but unevenly, distributed throughout
the (rat) central nervoussystem, being highest in the hypothalmus.

*Insulin is present in concentrationsbetween 10 and 100 times that
found in (rat) plasma.

        *Brain glucose metabolismis largely insulin independent, but
        obviously severely affectedby cerebral glucopenia but details
        can be found in any physiologytext. More insights about glucose
        transport and diffusionin the brain are reviewed in my
        Alzheimer’s book.

*Insulin stimulates DNA,RNA and protein synthesis in fetal rat brain
cells.

*Intracisternal insulin increasesarterial insulin levels, with a
decrease of plasma glucose-probablythrough a vagal mechanism.

        *CSF insulin concentrationsincrease during intravenous insulin
        infusions, and after anoral glucose load, perhaps by direct
        transfer across brain capillaryendothelial cells in the choroid
        plexus.

Finally, both amino acids of aspartame stimulate the release of insulin,
as described in my books and multiple papers.

I welcome your comment and criticisms.

H. J. Roberts, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.C.C.P.

Dr. Bleck: With regard to your comments about multiple sclerosisnot
escalating, I wonder where you got your information. The lasttime I
called the National Multiple Sclerosis Society here in Atlanta theytold
me they don’t record figures and they estimate there are about 500,000
cases in the U.S. Keep in mind it depends on who you end up talkingto.
Yesterday when I called Crystal told me she thought maybe it was 400,000.
I asked if they had any records of an earlier date. After 30minutes of
her guesses I asked if she could fax me any material. She sentme a
report titled REVISED ESTIMATE OF THE PREVALENCE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSISIN
THE UNITED STATES, Anderson, Ellenberg, Leventhal, Reingold, Rodrigues,
Siiberberg, American Neurological Association 1992.

According to this there were about 123,000 persons in 1976. Itsays: “It is
estimated that approximately 250,000 to 350,000 persons in the United
States in 1990 had physician diagnosed multiple sclerosis.

Finally, Crystal told me that here in Georgia they had started tracking
3 years ago. “Finally”, I said, “we’re getting somewhere – howmany
cases in Georgia 3 years ago?” She reported 2000 cases of MS. Then I said:
“So how many cases in Georgia now, 3 years later?” She said:”6000″. So
I asked her if she didn’t consider that to be an increase. Shesaid: “No,
I think people are just now more willing to say they have MS!”

Personally, I don’t believe you can get factual information from theMS
Society. They are another organization that takes in contributionsbut
helps the MS patient very little if at all, in my personal opinion,and
has no efficient records. They are like the American DiabeticAssn. Dr.
Roberts has been a member for almost 40 years and they refuse to publish
his research on diabetics and aspartame reactors. They know fullwell
what this poison will do to a diabetic. You’ve got as a component,
methyl ester which becomes methanol and then converts to formaldehydeand
formic acid (ant sting poison). The patient gets metabolic acidosis. As
Dr. Roberts points out in his book this severe biochemical state,
excessive acids in the body can result in respiratory failure and death.

They have sacrificed the diabetics! It was just yesterday whenI
mentioned NutraSweet that a woman said: “Why my aunt is a diabeticand
uses NutraSweet all day long.” I said: “Then your aunt is verysick –
she is either losing her vision or blind, has joint pain, her bloodsugar
is out-of-control, she had headaches, is very depressed, and her
physician doesn’t know why she has all the problems.” The womanwas
shocked and said: “Why yes, how did you know? The only thingyou left
out is she has boils and she has to take two hands to open her eyelids.
Her doctor has no idea why she keeps getting worse or what is doingit.”

I told Mrs. Foree that she probably then also has myasthenia graviswhich
is also triggered by aspartame. When I mentioned it to Dr. Robertshe
said that probably is the case and she should have a Tensilon test.

Physicians don’t know because Monsanto “funds” all these organizations
like the American Diabetic Assn., and American Dietetic Assn., etc.and
are told that aspartame is safe. They do it because they can’twarn the
patients and continue to take money. Notice all these walk-a-thonsfor
diabetics are funded by NutraSweet (Monsanto) and they have people
wearing Equal shirts. I got so upset at seeing diabetics halfblind and
almost dead on this poison that last October we exposed the ADA. Several
of us walked along side almost 1000 diabetics and handed them Dr. Roberts’
position paper on aspartame and diabetes, our warning flyer and a current
article on the danger of aspartame for diabetics. One by onethey
eliminated aspartame, and my phone rang off the hook with diabeticssaying:
“For the first time, my blood sugar is under control, my depressionis gone,
my vision is clearing up, etc.”

Dr. Moser, a consultant for the NutraSweet Company, hired to defendtheir
product when it gets exposed, wrote in a local paper that the onlyreason
the people get well is that it was all psychological. I wrotethe paper
back and said: “Neat reasoning, Dr. Moser, get off poison, get welland
your brain did it. A burglar could think of a better alibi!” Except for
the line about the burglar it was published in the paper.

My last run in with Dr. Moser was on August 17. I poured out DietCoke
at a press conference. They interviewed Dr. Moser who said: “Thisis
nutritional terrorism”. I wrote CBS back and said: “That’s so,he’s
right – NutraSweet has terrorized nutrition. Disbelievers embarkon The
Monsanto Titanic – it’s iceberg proof, you know.”

There are many physicians who will support the fact that this is a very
dangerous drug for anybody. Dr. Louis J. Elsas, II, Director,Division of
Medical Genetics, Professor of Pediatrics, testified before the Committee
on Labor and Human Resources of the United States Senate in 1987: He said:

“In the developing fetus such a rise in maternal blood phenylalanine
could be magnified four to six fold by the concentrative efforts ofthe
placenta and fetal blood brain barrier. Thus a maternal phenylalanineof
150 uM could reach 900 nM in the developing fetal brain cell and this
concentration kills such cells in tissue culture. The effectof such an
increased fetal brain concentrations in vivo would probably be muchmore
subtle and expressed as mental retardation, microcephaly, or potential
certain birth defects. .. In the rapidly growing post-natalbrain
(children of 1-12 months) irreversible brain damage could occur bythe
same mechanism.”

You should know that the American Diabetic Assn., and the American
Dietetic Assn. recommend aspartame for pregnant women! I recently
received a call from the National Child Development Assn. who saidthat
learning disabilities in children in the U.S. today are at 50%! She said
my packet I sent on NutraSweet is being duplicated and sent to 10,000
offices in the U.S. I also sent her Dr. Roberts paper on learning
disabilities as well as one he just recently wrote concerning the useof
products containing aspartame by pregnant women, infants and children.

This product masquerades as an additive used for weight loss and itis not.
In the Congressional Record of May 7, 1985 it quotes Dr. Richard Wurtman
of MIT (Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences).

“Aspartame has been demonstrated to inhibit the carbohydrate induced
synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin blunts the
sensation of craving carbohydrates and thus is part of the body’s
feedback system that helps limit consumption to appropriate levels. Its
inhibition by aspartame could lead to the anomalous result of a diet
product causing increased consumption of carbohydrates.”

Dr. Wurtman also says in: DIETARY PHENYLALANINE AND BRAIN FUNCTION,
Proceedings of the First International Meeting on Dietary Phenylalanine
and Brain Function in Washington, 5/8 – 10, 1987, page 84:

“Intermittent rise of blood phenylalanine following aspartame intakemay
be detrimental to the developing fetus. Indeed, fetuses of
hyperphenylalaninemic mothers may have lower IQ and a higher incidenceof
developmental abnormalities.”

Studies that were funded by Searle (Monsanto bought Searle in l985)or
Monsanto were usually “flawed” and cannot even be considered for research
in safety.

Dr. John Olney informed Searle that Aspartic acid caused holes in the
brains of mice he was testing. Ann Reynolds, a researcher hiredby
Searle, confirmed Dr. Olney’s findings in a similar study. Alarge Task
Force was formed, headed by FDA lead Investigator, Philip Brodsky. Here
are excerpts from the conclusions of their summary:

“We have uncovered serious deficiencies in Searle’s integrity in
conducting high quality animal research to accurately determine or
characterize the toxic potential of its products.”

“We have found instances of irrelevant or unproductive animal research
where experiments have been poorly conceived, carelessly executed or
inaccurately analyzed or reported.” “The cumulative findingsof problems
within and across the studies we investigated reveal a pattern of conduct
which compromised the scientific integrity of the studies.”

In 1981 Senior FDA statistician, Satya Dubey, stated in a memo, thatthe
brain tumor data was so “worrisome” he could not recommend approvalof
NutraSweet. In 1981 Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr. was appointedthe New FDA
Commissioner. In July of l981 he overruled the Public Board ofInquiry’s
recommendation that “Aspartame should not be approved for marketinguntil
further animal testing was conducted to resolve the brain tumor issue.”
The FDA approval of NutraSweet as a “food additive” makes it exemptfrom
continued safety monitoring and therefore G. D. Searle is not obligated
to monitor adverse reactions associated with NutraSweet nor submit
reports to FDA of such adverse reactions.

In 1983 Commissioner Hayes of FDA approved NutraSweet for soft drinkstwo
months before he left office. He accepted a position as seniormedical
advisor to a Searle Public Relations firm, Burston Marsteller who
represented NutraSweet. He refused to talk to the press for 10years!

The National Soft Drink Association 30 page protest listed in the
Congressional Records admits that Searle used the wrong test, wrong
solution, didn’t test for breakdown products and didn’t test for
temperature elevation.

The soda pop companies sent truckloads of diet pop to the Persian Gulf
where one soldier said they sat for as long as 8 weeks on pallets inthe
120 degree Arabian sun, and that they drank them all day. At86 degrees
aspartame liberates methanol in the can! Desert Storm Syndromesymptoms
are identical to Aspartame Disease: Memory loss, vision loss,chronic
fatigue syndrome (methanol breaks down the immune system), joint pain,
headaches, manic depression, dizziness, equilibrium problems, confusion,
etc. The CFIDS Network (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Immunologic
Disease) said 6000 of the troops have already perished! I wonderhow
many of them died from aspartame.

One lady posted a note to my private email about her burning tongue. She
said that Pepsi told her it was the sweetness breaking down, and they
sent her a new case of Diet Pepsi. On 60 Minutes this week theytalked
about Desert Storm Syndrome, and one mentioned “the burning tongue”.
Methanol gives the diet drinks their sweetness, and what Pepsi didn’t
tell the lady that when it broke down it broke down into formaldehyde!

There have been many studies done, not funded by the NutraSweet Company,
and they showed how dangerous aspartame really is. Barbara Alexander
Mullarkey, a friend and outstanding journalist who has been writingabout
NutraSweet since its approval, has written about these tests and hasall
the references. Eventually when she sends it to me I will postthese
studies that should be listed with Medline instead of those fundedby
NutraSweet that cannot be trusted. At that time I will make them
available to you along with her story.

I hope this gives you a little more understanding of this very dangerous
drug. People are constantly being diagnosed as having MultipleSclerosis
when, in fact, it is methanol toxicity from aspartame and reversible
usually within a couple of months. And someone who does haveMS who uses
aspartame is going to escalate his disease. So far every caseI’ve seen
was on NutraSweet (about 25) and reversed when we got them to abstain.
But some people who had MS symptoms like Joyce Wilson and PatriciaCraine
just weren’t warned in time and died from NutraSweet.

NutraSweet was very successful at killing rats in original studies,so it
would make a great rat killer. However, I would not put it inmy food or
medication!

Regards Betty

P.S. Dr. Wurtman in his papers disclosed the dangers of aspartame,but
he did later change sides and became a consultant for NutraSweet. It is
this kind of power that has prevented the removal of aspartame fromthe
marketplace. They can get to people in high places. Anotherstory.

Domain: [email protected]

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS OR ASPARTAME DISEASE?
H. J. ROBERTS, M.D., F.A.C.P.,F.C.C.P.

Aspartame disease refers to symptoms and signs attributable to the use
of products containing aspartame. This synthetic chemical iscommonly
known as NutraSweet (R) and Equal (R). Over half the U.S. population
currently consumes it.

In my opinion, aspartame disease afflicts numerous consumers of such
products, probably in the millions. This is based on my own database
of over 1,200 (!) aspartame reactors and extensive research, coupled
with the many thousands of complaints volunteered to the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) by outraged persons.

Certain areas of the brain, eyes, inner ear and peripheralnerves are
highly vulnerable. The most frequent features of aspartame disease
include headache, dizziness, poor equilibrium, confusion, impairedor
double vision, convulsions, ringing in the ears, slurred speech,
tremors, extreme fatigue, motor and sensory disturbances affectingthe
limbs, and other neuropsychiatric complaints.

I have encountered scores of patients with aspartame disease in whom
these features — in varying combinations – were diagnosed as multiple
sclerosis. This has been particularly impressive in the caseof weight-
conscious young women using “diet” soft drinks, tabletop sweeteners,and
sugar-free gum. The causative or contributing role of aspartamewas
convincingly indicated by ( 1) their dramatic improvement within several
days or weeks after avoiding aspartame products, and (2) the prompt
predictable recurrence of complaints after resuming aspartame… often
inadvertently.

Each of the components of aspartame — phenylalanine (50%); aspartic
acid (40%); the methyl ester (10%) which promptly becomes free methyl
alcohol (!) or methanol — and their multiple breakdown products after
exposure to heat or during prolonged storage is potentially toxic tothe
brain, retina and other nerves.

An erroneous diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can penalize a person for
years. Accordingly, it is my opinion that this diagnosis shouldnot be
made in individuals consuming aspartame products until they have been
observed for months of total abstinence. I must emphasize thatsome
minor finding in a CT or MRI scan of the brain does not conclusively
confirm this diagnosis.

These details are reviewed in IS ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET (R) ) SAFE? A
MEDICAL PUBLIC HEALTH AND LEGAL OVERVIEW (2 audio-cassette set), and
SWEET’NER DEAREST: BITTERSWEET VIGNETTES ABOUT ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET
(R))-published by the Sunshine Sentinel Press (P. O. Box 17799, West
Palm Beach, Florida 33416; 1 800 -814-9800; Fax 561-547-8008; homepage
http://www.gate.net/~sunpress) Other related titles by this publisher
are IGNORED HEALTH HAZARDS FOR PILOTS AND DRIVERS; WITH EMPHASIS ON
ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET(R)) DISEASE, and DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER’S
DISEASE.