Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic; H. J. ROBERTS, M.D. F.A.C.P F.C.C.P.
http://www.sunsentpress.com/ according to the website:
Dr. Roberts is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Technology, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, and The Best Doctors in the U.S. He was chosen by the editors of a national medical journal as "The Best Doctor in the U.S."
Dr. Roberts is Director of the Palm Beach Institute for Medical Research, and an emeritus member of the medical staffs of the Good Samaritan Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach, and prestigious medical/scientific organizations. They include the American College of Physicians, the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Federation for Clinical Research.
He has authored 20 texts and more than 250 original articles and letters published. Most deal with challenging diagnostic, metabolic and neurological problems.
Review of book by Dr. Charles Moseley from Journal of Neurosurgery
"Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, H. J. Roberts, West Palm Beach,
Florida: Sunshine Sentinel Press 2001, 1018 pp. illus. ISBN 1884243-
177. Price $75.00
To read Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic is something like reading
the "Warnings and Adverse Effects" section of the Physicians' Desk
Reference, with the added impact of being told that this information is
being intentionally withheld from the consuming public. The result, we
are told, is an epidemic as multifaceted as the many faces of
depression, both psychological and somatic. It is the somatic which
will be of most concern to the neurosurgeon, with a broad array of
neuropathological disorders attributed directly to toxic effects on
neuronal tissues. These include seizures, atypical peripheral
neuropathies, motor neuron disease, tremors, pseudotumor cerebri and
malignant brain tumors. This author directs attention, for instance, to
several prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors found in patients who were
heavy consumers of aspartame, correlated with the known prolactin-
stimulating effect of phenylalanine (a direct breakdown product of
aspartame in the body), and multiple instances of pituitary tumors in
exposed rats, as cited in the Bressler Report.
The author, H. J. Roberts, M.D., an internist, is director of the Palm
Beach Institute of Medical Research and has clearly dedicated himself to
warning both professional and general readers of an "imminent public
health hazard," noting that at least 66% of adults and 40% of children
in America currently consume aspartame.
The biochemistry is interesting. The primary breakdown product of
aspartame is a synthetic substance made by combining the amino acids L-
phenylalanine and L-aspartic acid with the ester of methyl alcohol (also
known as wood alcohol), which produces a "phenylalanine-containing
dipeptide." Breakdown in the body is simply the reverse, which results
in rapid absorption into the portal circulation and across the blood-
brain barrier. As a psychiatrist with psychopharmacology research
experience, I wonder about the effects of the dopamine precursor L-
phenylalanine on neurotransmission. It is notable that disturbed
dopamine metabolism is attracting increasing interest in neuropsychiatry
as an important component of numerous psychopathological conditions,
most notable affective disorders (bipolar disorder and major
depression). Additionally, I wonder about the neurotoxic effects of
wood alcohol, noted by Dr. Herbert Posner of the National Institute of
Environmental Sciences in l975, to produce "delayed and irreversible
effects on the nervous system (of methanol) at widely varying levels of
exposure and at rather low levels."
My major criticism of this work is the absence of balance; there is
clearly another side of the argument, as attested by the fact that
aspartame won approval in a contentious Food and Drug Administration
approval process. It is not enough to dismiss the studies supporting
its safety as "industry sponsored," Nor is it sufficient to
characterize numerous regulatory, scientific and legal organizations'
acceptance of the safety data they received as invalid stamps of
approval, because they "did not insist upon independent confirmatory
studies by corporate-neutral investigators."
Perhaps the greatest benefit of this work for the practitioner of
medicine is to raise the index of suspicion that aspartame may be an
otherwise hidden causal agent in a wide array of neuropathological
conditions. For the researcher, a well-designed study with the goal of
determining the answer to the threshold question: Does aspartame
consumption result in increased incidence of neuropathological signs and
symptoms? would seem an important next step. We are, after all, talking
about a substance that is being consumed by Americans in quantities of
pounds per year per person. Charles D. Moseley, M.D. "
More information on aspartame on www.dorway.com Congratulations Dr.
Roberts! As many have said, one day Aspartame Disease may become known
as Roberts Disease! www.aspartameispoison.com