PET scan showing a normal brain on the Left and a brain with Alzheimer's Disease on the Right. The blue and black shaded ares are indications of little or no activity.
We are constantly exposed to aluminum. It's in our food, the water, the air. We wrap our leftovers in it, we settle our stomach acid with it, we brush our teeth with it. Does this mean we are all doomed to get Alzheimer's?
The answer appears to be NO. The initial fear of aluminum in the brain was not spread due to large studies, it was based on some loosely gathered data and the controversy was launched.
"The accumulation of aluminum in the human body is not likely unless it is injected into the patient or their kidneys are unable to excrete it."
In 1992 a study was reported in the science journal Nature that showed the same level of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and those of the controls. These same researchers in 1994, came to the initial conclusion once again.
Some concern about aluminum in our drinking water supply still remains. The author of this article suggests that we try to just eliminate unnecessary exposure to aluminum. Aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer's patients may have come from the laboratories used to study the brains after death. I suppose we must consider this to be a subject of personal choice. If it makes one feel better to avoid the products then do so, but there is no conclusive scientific evidence to solidly condemn aluminum.
We must come to the conclusion that the ingestion of aluminum is another controversial risk factor in the development of Alzheimer's Disease and will probably remain so for a long time to come.
*Next Article: Alzheimer's and the Baby Boomers
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