From: http://207.48.132.28/issue/155/letasp.htm

Liver Toxicity Linked to Aspartame

Editor:

    I am writing to you to thank you for your publication. I have been
searching for a magazine such as yours for several years to educate
myself in the many uses of herbs to maintain good health and alternative
methods for treating illnesses. This education became especially
important to me when my husband was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy and
required a heart transplant. My first copy of your magazine was given to
me by another subscriber and I was very impressed with its high
standards, professional opinions, documentation of studies, and down to
earth information that I was unable to obtain through health food store
books and magazines. Now that the magazine has been made available to
patients, I hear overtones in your editorials that you might have to
water down the information to meet the level of understanding for those
subscribers. I am not a doctor; however, I subscribed to your magazine
because I needed straightforward information to assist in my husband's
health care.  I am not saying that I always understand completely what I
read, but I didn't understand everything I read in the Merck manual
either. Through cross reference I was able to decipher the needed
information in order to cure a problem that doctors in the Seattle area
could not. I strongly urge you not to change the format of the magazine.
I believe that if you lower the standards that you currently have, you
will end up being no different than the magazines I can buy in the
health food stores. Your magazine is outstanding and one of a kind in my
opinion.

    As stated earlier, my husband, age 51 at the time, was transplanted
with a 17 year-old heart.  At the time everyone thought that he was the
perfect candidate because he had a perfect tissue match with the donor
and was in fairly stable condition the day of the transplant. The
surgery itself went smoothly, but shortly after that he developed a very
bad itch on his arms. The doctors thought it was just dry skin and
suggested changing soaps. On September 3rd 1992, my husband had a biopsy
of the heart and complained of being very tired and thirsty. A blood
draw showed that he had a blood sugar level of 1,345! The doctors were
surprised that he was awake and able to carry on a conversation. He was
diagnosed as having CMV virus and diabetes. He was put on heavy
medication to combat the virus and was started on a sugar-free diet. He
was in the hospital for over a month and when we finally returned home
every food source in the house was converted to accommodate a diabetics
needs. That is when the real trouble began. Shortly thereafter my
husband began suffering from gastrointestinal trouble. Diarrhea, gas,
bloating, and upset stomach. The itching became so bad that it covered
his entire body and he was literally scratching himself to the point of
bloodshed. His bilirubin was climbing rapidly and when it shot up to 8.5
the doctors were discussing a liver transplant. He had no history of
drug or alcohol abuse and no family history of liver trouble. The
doctors tested for everything. All the results were perfect. They even
performed a corn test where my husband had to eat a whole can of corn
and they timed how long it took for the corn to show up in his stools.
He passed this scientific test as well.

    For some unknown reason, his liver was no longer producing bile.
With the continued diarrhea, all of the antirejection drugs were at
extremely low and dangerous levels. Rejection of the new heart was
constant and he had to be treated with high levels of steroids to
compensate for the low cyclosporine levels. All of us were confused and
frustrated. My husband had been hospitalized with numerous staph
infections and even contracted clostridium as a result of eating too
much hospital food. That's when I went to Dr. Matchett and bought a
Merck manual. I began reading about hepatic failures and although many
of the words were foreign to me, I was soon able to understand the
terminology that the doctors were throwing at me. This new knowledge
gave me the confidence to discuss my husband's condition on a more even
level with the doctors. Finally one late night my prayers were answered.
I was determined to read the whole manual from front to back if that was
what it took and I turned to the back of the book and began reading a
chart on liver conditions. I located the symptoms that were similar to
my husbands and the solution was very clear ... reduce intake of
phenylalanine. I jumped off the couch and grabbed up a packet of Equal
from the kitchen. In comparing the words in the book to the packet in my
hand I realized that my husband's liver condition was linked to the
ingredients found in Equal and every diet food in the house.

    Within two months my husband's bilirubin was down to 3.0 and the
itching was gone. The doctors were still not convinced that it was the
sugar-substitute products that was causing the liver problem. They had
taken him off of Imuran and boosted the steroids to keep him from
rejecting the heart. Imuran can have a bad effect on the liver. They
were convinced that he was regaining his health because of the absence
of Imuran, not the phenylalanine. I was battling with them and gave
orders that if he was hospitalized for any reason that he was not to be
put on a sugar-free diet. They agreed. I also told them that my husband
was allergic to milk and that I was eliminating all cows milk products
from his diet. They were concerned that he would not be getting enough
calcium in his diet and suggested that I buy him calcium supplements. I
selected a calcium that was chelated and would assist in fat absorption.
It had all the bells and whistles, so to speak. I was so proud of
myself. My husband was getting better and I had found the solution. My
ego trip was short-lived. One month almost to the day, my husband was in
bad shape again. His bilirubin was back up to 8.5 and climbing. The
doctors were calling for more tests and I felt like the nightmare was
starting all over again. I was not to be defeated. One night I sat down
and reviewed all of the notes that I had written down in my transplant
book. I kept asking myself, what was different? what changes had we made
in the medicines? None. Then it hit me. The only change I had made in
the last month was that I started him on the new calcium. I went into
the kitchen and grabbed up the bottle and carefully began reading off
all of the ingredients. There in the fine print was the word aspartame.
I considered this to be kind of a blind study. My husband didn't know
that it was in the calcium, but his body sure did. I was later told that
it is often used as a binding agent. Since that time my husband has
continued to improve. His liver function is perfect, he is back on the
Imuran, and off of steroids completely (not without suffering from all
side effects from the drug first!) In my husband's medical folder it
states the wife says that the husband is allergic to Phenylalanine.
Laughingly I said to a medical person, I don't care how you have written
it, just make sure you follow it.