Aluminum and Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and fatal form of dementia. The involvement of aluminum was originally suggested when it was found to be present in neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of some patients who had died from the disease and it has also been shown to cause memory loss if administered intravenously. The jury is still out on whether aluminum is a cause of Alzheimer’s. However, there is no evidence to suggest that we need aluminum for our body to function normally (1). We do not need it in our diet. It is considered non-physiological and yet we are exposed to it from so many sources in our daily lives. I think it is prudent to avoid aluminum as much as possible. In the excellent report (2) and video below, produced by Phyllis Staff after her father had passed away from Alzheimer’s disease, the concerns about aluminum and the steps we should take to minimize our exposure to it are presented.

References

1) Bernardo, J. F., Edwards, M. R. & Barnett, B. (2009) Toxicity, Aluminum. eMedicine from WebMD http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/165315-overview

2) Staff, P. (2009) Elemental Enigma: A Guide to Aluminum and Alzheimer’s Disease. http://www.viewzone.com/alzheimers.html