A 50-year-old surgeon with diabetes began consuming considerable amounts of diet sodas. He had to give up surgery and driving when his vision deteriorated to 20/100 in both eyes. Laser therapy was administered to one eye. Once he discontinued diet drinks, his vision improved to 20/30 and 20/40, and his blood sugar values were generally normal.
Case XIII-30
During an interview on Philadelphia Station WWDB, the mother of a 20-year-old diabetic woman called. She stated that a hemorrhage in one eye of her daughter had caused virtual blindness notwithstanding careful control of diabetes with insulin, and severe impairment was beginning in the other eye. This mother had pleaded with her to reduce or stop the considerable use of diet sodas, but to no avail. She then wrote
"My suspicions that aspartame might be responsible for losing her sight in the left eye were raised. I realize that most people, including many physicians I have spoken to, will blame this on her diabetes. But they have also admitted to me that her problem as a diabetic who is very well controlled under the care of a diabetologist, and with regular visits (every six months) to an eye surgeon, is very unusual.
"It all happened so quickly. We are suffering from shock even though it has been almost a year since she lost all central vision. One reason for our panic is that now she is experiencing blurring, etc. in her right eye. I was even afraid to mention any suspicion about aspartame to the family or friends as I thought they would think me grasping at straws or just a 'hysterical' mother."
Case XIII-31
This case, reported to Dr. Richard J. Wurtman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is part of the public record.
The patient had longstanding diabetes with renal failure. A kidney transplant was unsuccessful, necessitating hemodialysis. She subsequently died at the age of 37.
Four months prior to her death, she began consuming increasingly large amounts of aspartame-sweetened tea and lemonade. Her mother tried to dissuade her from doing so after reading about aspartame reactions. The patient, however, insisted that "it was safe because the F.D.A. had approved it." Within two months, she experienced severe muscle spasms, slurred speech, difficulty in swallowing, inability to control the limb muscles, and seizures.
The attending physician stated that he did not know enough "to make a judgment" about the possible contributory role of aspartame. The parents thereupon went to the hospital library, and found an article by Dr. Wurtman on aspartame-induced seizures which they handed to the physician. The mother subsequently wrote, "I honestly believe that the aspartame may have been the cause of her seizures. Surely any one with kidney failure would be at high risk."
Increased Triglyceride and Cholesterol Concentrations
Elevated blood triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations are commonly found in patients with diabetes. Indeed, they may serve as clues to this underlying metabolic disturbance.
A large literature exists concerning the impaired ability of diabetics with insulin resistance to metabolize a glucose load - as reflected by their increased insulin concentrations after meals, and associated triglyceride elevation.
Aspartame can evoke or aggravate hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia, as in Case XIII-20. The problem may be compounded when high-fiber laxatives containing aspartame are recommended because they reduced blood cholesterol levels in short-term studies.
Case II-2 evidenced clinical diabetes for the first time after more than two decades under the author's care. She recently began drinking large amounts of aspartame beverages. Concomitantly, her triglyceride levels rose to 1,284 mg percent and 1,616 mg percent (normal, up to 160 mg percent) and her serum cholesterol to 354 and 349 mg percent (normal, up to 225 mg percent).
These metabolic aberrations could be viewed as reflections of compensatory, albeit inefficient, mechanisms whereby the body attempts to provide basic energy needs for vital organs (Roberts 1964, 1967b, 1964c, 1971b). The superimposed adverse effects of aspartame are discussed in Section 5.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
1
1
