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Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) is an incurable and sometimes fatal flu-like neurological condition that is believed to have been caused by ingestion of L-tryptophan supplements. Similar to regular eosinophilia, it causes an increase in eosinophil granulocytes in the patient's blood. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. ...
The following is a list of codes for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ...
The Diseases Database is a free website that provides information about the relationships between medical conditions, symptoms, and medications. ...
eMedicine is an online clinical medical knowledge base that was founded in 1996. ...
Tryptophan is an amino acid and essential in human nutrition. ...
Eosinophilia is the state of having high eosinophil granulocytes in the blood. ...
Eosinophil granulocyte Image of an eosinophil Eosinophil Eosinophil Eosinophil granulocytes, commonly referred to as eosinophils (or less commonly as acidophils), are white blood cells that are responsible for combating infection by parasites in the body. ...
History
Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome was first recognized after an outbreak of the condition in 1989. Epidemologists first traced the cause to consumption of a single brand of tryptophan supplement. There was some evidence that new batches of this brand had been improperly prepared. The bacterial culture used to synthesise tryptophan had recently been genetically engineered to greatly increase tryptophan production, and shortcuts had been taken in the purification process to reduce costs. For example, a purification step that used charcoal absorption to remove impurities had been modified to reduce the amount of charcoal used. It is possible that one or more of these modifications allowed new or greater impurities through the purification. The specific impurity (or impurities) responsible for the toxic effects was never firmly established, although several impurities were proposed as the cause, and their chemical structures determined. Regardless of the origin of the toxicity, tryptophan was banned from sale in the US, and other countries followed suit. In February 2001, the FDA loosened the restrictions on the marketing of tryptophan (though not on importation). 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
An iconic image of genetic engineering; this autoluminograph from 1986 of a glowing transgenic tobacco plant bearing the luciferase, illustrating the possibilities of genetic engineering. ...
Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. ...
Recent developments Recent research from FDA has shown that the association of EMS with the a specific brand of tryptophan supplement may be false (Smith & Garrett, 2005). Many brands of tryptophan supplements are now known to be associated with this medical condition, which may be caused by tryptophan interference with toxic histamine metabolism. It is suggested that histamine then accumulates and causes the EMS syndrome.
Reference - Bolton, Penni, Carl Edwin Lindgren (September/October 1991). A Mystery Ailment Revealed. American Fitness, Vol. 9, No. 5 p. 34-5.
- Smith MJ, Garrett RH. A heretofore undisclosed crux of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome: compromised histamine degradation. Inflamm Res. 2005 Nov;54(11):435-50. See: [1]
- Walker,Larry, Carl Edwin Lindgren, Penni Bolton. (1991). L-Tryptophan induced eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. The Journal of the Royal Society of Health, Volume 111, Number 1: 29-30.
See also Toxic Oil Syndrome was the name given to an unusual disease outbreak in Spain in 1981. ...
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