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Article: Tryptophan trips up. (dietary supplements ) (Cover Story)
- Article from:
- Nutrition Action Healthletter
- Article date:
- October 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Center for Science in the Public Interest. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In November 1989, Gerald Gleich of the Mayo Clinic placed a call to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. He reported that three women in New Mexico and one person in Minnesota were suffering from the same puzzling symptoms.
All had been taking tryptophan, an amino acid the body uses to build protein.
The Disease
The new disease was called EMS, or Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome, because patients have high levels of white blood cells called eosinophils and muscle pain (myalgia). What does it feel like?
"Imagine a painful cramp in the foot multiplied a hundredfold," said Paul L. Houts, an EMS victim who testified at a ...