Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome
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was
first recognized in 1989 in New Mexico. Three
women sought medical help for a mysterious,
undiagnosable condition whose symptoms were
marked by debilitating muscle pain and a high
Eosinophilia count (a type of white blood cell
that is usually found when a toxin or parasitic
infection is present). It was eventually
discovered that all of the women had one thing
in common: they had been taking L-tryptophan, a
health food supplement sold as a sleep aid.
The
tainted product was traced back to Showa Denko
Inc, a Japanese company, that had been cutting
corners in their purification procedure to
reduce their manufacturing costs. Additionally,
they were experimenting with genetically
engineered bacteria in order to accelerate and
increase the efficiency of their production
process. As a result, contaminated batches of L-tryptophan
were placed on the market. Within three months,
37 people died and over 1500 were permanently
disabled from using this product.
By
early 1990, officers of the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) banned the sale of all over
the counter L-tryptophan dietary supplements
because it was found to be the common link in
the EMS cases. Research was conducted to
discover the cause of this illness. By using
high performance liquid chromatography, an
unidentified impurity, called "peak E" was found
in batches of L-T as well as nearly 60 other
contaminants. These batches were traced back to
one manufacturer, Showa Denko KK (SDKK), one of
Japan's largest petrochemical companies.
Both the CDC and the FDA
agreed that considering the amount of L-T
manufactured by Showa Denko KK, which had been
sold from 1988 to 1989, there are potentially
several times the original 1,500 reported cases.
However, there are still no
medical tests to diagnose this incurable
illness. Hence many doctors shrug off victims'
complaints and attribute their symptoms to
fibromyalgia (a chronic condition also involving
acute muscle pain not verifiable by laboratory
tests), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lupus,
Arthritis, Fasciitis, and other auto-immune or
neuromuscular disorders with similar symptoms.
Those of us who were poisoned by L-tryptophan
continue to suffer a host of maladies and live
each day of our lives in pain. According to the
1992 FDA bulletin, there is evidence that
"non-epidemic" cases were occurring for months
to years prior to the sudden increase in
incidence, which peaked in October 1989. We
suspect there are many other over-looked victims
still out there. We'd like to help.
The National Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome
Network, Inc., is a non-profit (501 C-3)
organization dedicated to helping EMS survivors
and their families by offering educational
information and peer support.
NEMSN is also committed to encouraging research
to improve treatment for L-tryptophan induced
EMS and to increasing awareness of the cause and
effects of the disease and other similar
auto-immune disorders. |