An English team specializing in research related to aluminum has discovered traces of this metal in the brains of several patients suffering from a hereditary form of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust and is used in particular to make cosmetics
- Traces of this metal have been found in the brains of patients with hereditary Alzheimer’s
- Aluminum may cause Alzheimer’s disease, researchers say
In 2014, Christopher Exley, a researcher at Keel University (UK), had already established a link between exposure to aluminum and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The man now nicknamed “Mr. Aluminum” has been working for more than 20 years on the consequences of this metal on our health.
Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust and represents on average 8% of the mass of solid surface materials on our planet. Discovered in 1807, aluminum is used today in many cosmetics, as well as in the manufacture of packaging and kitchen utensils.
“Hereditary Alzheimer’s disease”
Today, Christophe Exley’s team publishes the results of a new study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease dealing with “hereditary” or “familial” Alzheimer’s disease. Heredity is rarely involved, but it happens that the disease develops in people with a heavy family history.
The researchers have analyzed brain tissue stored in the brain bank of the University of Antioquia (Colombia), from donors suffering from this rare form of Alzheimer’s, and measured their aluminum content. “We report significantly higher levels of aluminum in the brain tissues of donors with familial Alzheimer’s disease, than in those of donors without neurological impairment or neurodegeneration”note the researchers.
Aluminum found in several places in the brain
Thanks to fluorescence microscopy, they realized that “aluminum and beta-amyloid protein [le composant principal des plaques amyloïdes que l’on retrouve dans les neurones de certaines maladies neurodégénératives, dont la maladie d’Alzheimer, NDLR] were co-localized on amyloid plaques as well as in the vascular system” patients.
Traces of aluminum were also found separately from beta-amyloid protein in intracellular compartments, including glia and neuronal axons (the extensions of neurons that conduct the electrical signal from the cell body to the synaptic areas, Ed).
According to Christopher Exley, the presence of aluminum in the brain is responsible for the development of Alzheimer’s disease, but more studies are needed to make this certain. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease. No new count allows to know the exact number of patients in France, but 250,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and according to estimates, there could be around 1,275,000 people affected.
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