Film: "Toxic Puzzle: Hunt for the Hidden Killer
A medical and environmental detective story about the worldwide search for an environmental toxin that may be causing a rise in ALS and Alzheimer’s. Discussion follows.
Discussion follows with Dr. Paul Cox, Dr. Elijah Stommel and director Bo Landin
We are on the brink of an ecological catastrophe. Thanks to pollution and climate change, cyanobacteria (aka blue-green algae) are growing more than ever. Toxic blooms now occur in lakes, rivers, dams and lagoons all over the world. Scientists have proved that toxins produced by cyanobacteria cause damage to our brains and nervous systems.
Meanwhile, diseases like ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are on the increase worldwide. Are some of the smallest organisms on Earth to blame? Have cyanobacteria become the hidden killer? Does this explain why soldiers from recent desert wars have come down with ALS? People everywhere drink Spirulina juice and consume blue-green algae powder for health. Are they unknowingly consuming a potentially toxic substance that can destroy their brains?
Filmmaker Bo Landin spent four years with acclaimed ethnobotanist Dr. Paul Cox and his collaborators (among them DHMC’s Dr. Elijah Stommel) as they circled the globe to learn more about cyanobacteria toxins. During this time they made an extraordinary discovery of a link between cyanobacteria and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Is it possible that this connection may also provide clues to a cure?
Among the astonishing findings is that the Ogimi village elders in Okinawa, Japan do not have any of these brain illnesses. Dr. Cox found a natural substance in their food, an amino acid called L-serine, which offsets the effects of the toxin. Early tests show that L-serine is effective and blocks the progression of ALS. Cox and his team think this could also be a cure for Alzheimer’s. Fast tracked by FDA, Phase IIa clinical human trials began at Dartmouth Hitchcock last month.
Narrated by Harrison Ford, Toxic Puzzle is a medical and environmental detective story. While it identifies a threat to our minds and nervous systems, it also offers hope to the millions afflicted by these diseases. D: Bo Landin, US, 2017, 2hrs
