Gray Fox
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Here is a intersting article I found on t0rr3entspy, just wanted to bring your attenion to it. Well if you have some intersting opions after reading it, post them please.
Aspartame-induced brain tumors, Weed to the rescue?
- [Assorted]
Submitted by scienott on 4/14/2005 2:40:39 PM 54 Comments
This article turned out much larger than expected, but I guarantee it to be an entertaining read for those interested in science, politics, reefer, and the corporate food/drug market. Consider yourself lucky to have the easy job of reading; I wrote the damn thing, so don't whine about it being too long or I'll retire from this site for good, haha. Now let's see how many half-illiterate comical sheep are out there. If anyone can't resist commenting with something like, "the article's too long, will you leave now? ho ho," thinking they're witty for mustering up such brilliance, it's members BoricuaMaster, meanJake, w00t warez, Symposium, and 420 others who I've pissed off in light of my being a 'hippie liberal terrorist who resides on the left wing'. Of those 424 displeased members, I estimate that 50% of them won't even read the article and are already commenting by now. Screw the article, when you can rather bash scienott, haha.
Now that I've lost almost everyone, I'll remind you that I jokingly compared aspartame to cannabis in the last aspartame debate, arguing that at least pot gets you high (while serving many other useful purposes) as opposed to aspartame just ****ing up your health without an oh-so-sweet euphoria. Let the flaming begin!
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Marijuana and Tumors
In 1974, researchers learned that THC, the active chemical in grass, shrank and/or destroyed brain tumors in test mice. THC was proven to halt growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor's life. The DEA promptly shut down the study and annihilated its results, in which they were never reevaluated until the new millennium. Can we say 'politics'? Perhaps marijuana will one day help combat tumors which were the result of hefty aspartame consumption – I've got faith in mary jane.
Marijuana and Psychosis/Schizophrenia
I read an interesting article in NewScientist’s magazine (late March/early April edition) which recognized the significant global increase in the amount of people who smoke pot. It recognized psychiatrists who claim that marijuana can lead to psychosis in some users (in other words, everyone reacts differently to drugs – this case being no different), a very popular right-wing contention; although, these allegations cannot be proven to date. Some researchers have attempted to link pot use to schizophrenia, despite the major increase in pot use over the last 30 years, and despite no increase in schizophrenia diagnosis over the exact same time frame. So there has been zero increase in the diagnosis of schizophrenia, all the while pot use skyrocketed, somewhat debunking claims which link pot to schizophrenia. Many researchers argue that schizophrenic patients were already mentally ill before pot was even a factor and that the use of pot could easily have been their way of actually coping with, or curing, the mental illness in the first place. What came first, the schizophrenia or the pot use? Ironically, I kid you not, recent research yielded evidence that one of marijuana's chemicals, cannabidiol, exerts a powerful antipsychosis effect, suggesting that cannabis may be a simplistic cure for psychosis rather than a cause. Scientific contradictions rule. UK firm GW plans to further research cannabidiol as a treatment for schizophrenia. Research from New Zealand pointed out that schizophrenia may be the result of a genetic disorder in some cases. The investigated gene, COMT, encodes an enzyme that breaks down a signaling chemical in the brain called dopamine. COMT is found in two forms, one of which is much more common in schizophrenics. Therefore, scientists are led to believe that genetics could be a risk factor. The team found that people with two “normal” versions of COMT, smoking cannabis had little to no effect on mental health. It was found that people with one normal and one bad gene, smoking cannabis could increase their risk of psychosis. By the way, psychosis is a symptom of mental illness, not a disease in itself. I recommend checking out the NewScientist article, 'The truth about reefers and schizophrenia'.
Marijuana and Chocolate
And just for fun, I’ll point at some research from 1996: Neurosciences Institute in San Diego suggested that chocolate carries chemicals rather similar to the active ingredients in marijuana. Chocolate packs respectable helpings of caffeine and theobromine, but its effects could not be explained by those stimulants alone. The study claimed that chocolate contains three compounds chemically related to cannabinoids, the class of substances responsible for marijuana's sense of euphoria. Although this isn't solid evidence for why people love chocolate, it adds to the mystery of chocolate's popularity. Since aspartame can be in chocolate, I found this to be a neat co-relation...nothing more.
Science and Politics of Aspartame
Anyway, onto the claims of “Mission Possible”, a consumer rights advocacy group who’s leading a campaign which recognizes product liability lawsuits with people whose brain tumors are considered to be linked to aspartame. For 16 years, the FDA resisted pressure to approve aspartame due to safety studies linking the artificial sweetener to numerous adverse reactions, including the development of brain tumors in animal studies. In 1977, FDA investigator Jerome Bressler released a report describing, from clinical studies, aspartame-induced brain tumors that developed in lab rats. Prominent aspartame experts, Doctors H.J. Roberts and Russell Blaylock, admitted the studies were so negative that the FDA removed 20% of the report’s most damaging data to cover their ass. As I’ve said, do not put all of your faith in companies whose primary goal is to make money and mass-produce questionable products that lead to illnesses, in which drug companies can then profit from your misery by trying to “cure” you. I hate to bring up the derogatory term – conspiracy – but I have to; anything for the stock market/economy.
Here’s the really interesting part that I’m sure people will try and disprove in attempt to support the ever so holy Rumsfeld: Three years after Donald Rumsfeld became CEO of Searle, aspartame was approved for use in dry goods. To find out how he accomplished this feat, you might want to check out the new movie, “Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World” and hear the words of Washington Consumer Attorney James Turner as he speaks about Donald Rumsfeld's involvement with aspartame and President Reagan's Executive Order. Since approval of aspartame in 1981, the FDA has published a list of 92 symptoms of aspartame poisoning, which includes headaches, vision loss including blindness, seizures, neurological problems, cardiovascular problems, and death. The FDA admits adverse reactions to aspartame comprise about 80 percent of consumer complaints it receives each year. Victims, scientists, and physicians are all being networked under a union of scientific data and results are being published in medical literature that has been growing since Mission Possible formed in 1992.
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The head of Mission Possible, Betty Martini, wants aspartame removed from the marketplace: "Litigation is the only way to spare consumers the misery of aspartame poisoning." Misery – gotta love that word which associates nicely with the corporate drug market. I’m reminded of a book which I haven’t actually read yet, but plan to: “Natural Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About” by Kevin Trudeau - maybe one of our readers has read this book and would be willing to share with us what they thought were its most important messages - thanks in advance. Information from the experts and medical texts show aspartame is actually a neurotoxic drug that interacts with other drugs and vaccinations. The story of how aspartame was discovered and approved by the FDA has been put together over the years through documents obtained by Mission Possible. Aspartame overcame FDA neurotoxicity concerns and can now be found in over 7,000 commonly consumed foods, beverages and medical preparations. This is a crystal clear example of politics overriding science and public safety in the product approval process.
In one set of documents, aspartame producer G.D. Searle used poor people from six third-world countries as test subjects for a study conducted in 1983/84. The data shows that, over the 18-month duration of the study, some of the subjects developed brain tumors; others began to experience seizures. In one case, a pregnant woman spontaneously aborted, began hemorrhaging and then disappeared from the study. Way to go, Rumsfeld! Why not electronically sign some condolence letters and get your assistant to send them to your third-world guinea pigs, you dirty prick? Or better yet, take aspartame off the damn market like you should have done twenty years ago! The 1983/84 studies showed that the people whose brains and central nervous systems were adversely affected by aspartame are enough to warrant a review of its status as an FDA-approved artificial sweetener. But the FDA was not provided the results of the Searle study nor was it even permitted to review the clinical data. Thank Rumsfeld for the money-driven, authoritative, market-related censorship that has bred scientific and political incompetence, at the expense of people's safety and knowledge.
Moving on to more of Mission Possible’s scientific documents: "Interestingly, when we exposed human brain tumour cells to nitrosated DKP the cells became more motile and their rate of proliferation was significantly elevated” – in other words, the tumors grew upon exposure to a chemical found in the breakdown of aspartame. DKP, when nitrosated in the gut, produces a compound which is similar to N-nitrosourea, a powerful brain tumor causing chemical. Hopefully ganja’s THC will come to the rescue of Rumsfeld’s shitty conduct and start curing tumors - and just to point out, this is my own scientific expectation based on my interest for both aspartame and marijuana. But no, let’s ban marijuana from being researched, despite its million-and-one different purposes, because that’s ‘the right-wing way’, shall we? Oh please, won't you ban that damn marijuana? It’s nothing but hippie and Mexican rubbish! Down with marijuana - up with aspartame! US politics is a big fat oxymoron like Michael Moore is a big fat moron - I'm surprised he hasn't made a documentary on aspartame.
Famed neuroscientist Dr. John Olney made world news in 1996 over aspartame/brain tumor association when he said that the aspartame breakdown product may be capable of enhancing malignant progression of pre-existing (and possibly non-existent) tumors in the brain. All the while NutraSweet's corporate cowboys are massively boosting aspartame production because we just can't seem to get enough of those brain tumors - yes sir, screw that sweetly natural mary jane and stock up on Rumsfeld-approved aspartame!
Monsanto(these guys are like invloved in everything bad, just google the name), the maker of bovine growth hormone that has been linked to cancer in humans and cattle, bought Searle (along with rights to produce aspartame) in 1985. They sold in 1999 (I wonder why - perhaps because of the known controversy?).
Brain tumors in the U.S. have been increasing steadily since the early 1980s. About 70% of adults and 40% of children are regular consumers of products that contain aspartame. Eat up...we’ll let you know when there’s a marketable and profitable cure.
"There is not one shred of evidence to suggest that aspartame is safe. Yet, our files are overflowing with studies and reports proving that aspartame is a not a food additive but a neurotoxic drug that breaks down to a brain tumor agent, DKP. And now, 25 years later, we have epidemic proportions of people developing brain tumors and a full spectrum of other neurological disorders," Mission Possible said.
Aspartame's route to marketplace approval and its effect on public health is very well documented. The aspartame story has been described in the 1,038-page medical text, "Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic" by H.J. Roberts, MD (sunsetpress.com). "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills" by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, also outlines aspartame's adversity (russellblaylockmd.com).
Cori Brackett, a former aspartame-induced multiple-sclerosis sufferer, traveled over 7,000 miles to interview physicians, scientists, attorneys and FDA investigators about aspartame neurotoxicity and how Donald Rumsfeld used his political muscle to achieve aspartame's FDA approval. The result is the video documentary "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World" (soundandfuryproductions.com). The largest collection of aspartame-related studies, reports, and case histories can be found online at dorway.com, the Mission Possible website. Also, refer to Aspartame Toxicity Center.
Conclusion
But who am I to inform you of this? I smoke cigarettes and I can feel my lungs going into spasms from withdrawal. I'm surprised aspartame hasn't been cross-bred with nicotine yet - who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and it will be someday - in that case I'd quit smoking and start supporting aspartame.
