Alzheimers Disease - and its links with ALUMINIUM

Alzheimer's disease, or senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type, will be one of America's greatest health problems in the coming years. Sixty percent of patients now admitted to nursing homes have this diagnosis, and the number of Alzheimer's victims is projected to increase as much as eight-fold by the middle of the next century.

There is a strong connection between aluminium and Alzheimer's disease. Research clearly demonstrates abnormally high accumulations of aluminium within the brains of Alzheimer's victims. Independent studies performed in Norway, the United Kingdom, France and Canada, show a direct correlation between the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and aluminium concentrations in the drinking water.1,2,3,4 In fact, one British study reported in the highly respected medical journal; The Lancet, showed the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease to be 50 percent greater where drinking water contained high levels of aluminium.5

The connection between aluminium in the brain and Alzheimer's Disease is so convincing that various studies are under way to explore whether aluminium in the brain can be removed, and if so, to determine if this would be beneficial for Alzheimer's patients. One fascinating study also reported in The Lancet, showed that by administering desferrioxamine, a chemical known to remove aluminium and other metals from the body, the progression of dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease was significantly slowed.6

In a recent article appearing in the Townsend Letter for Doctors (November 1993), Dr. Michael A. Weiner, executive director of the Alzheimer's Research Institute summarized our present understanding of the dangers of Aluminium exposure when he stated "... Aluminium has been known as a neurotoxic substance for nearly a century. The scientific literature on its toxic effects has now grown to a critical mass. It is not necessary to conclude that Aluminium causes Alzheimer's disease to recommend that it be reduced or eliminated as a potential risk. It is the only element noted to accumulate in the tangle-bearing neurons characteristic of the disease and is also found in elevated amounts in four regions of the brain of Alzheimer's patients."

Our exposure to Aluminium is certainly nothing new. It is one of the most common elements in the earth's crust and has long made its way into our foods. Ancient man consumed Aluminium when rocks were used to mill grain into flour. Minimal exposure to Aluminium isn't a problem; our bodies can excrete small amounts very efficiently. Laboratory research has shown that we can handle about twenty milligrams of Aluminium ingestion each day.7 Unfortunately, most of us are exposed to and ingest far more Aluminium than our bodies can handle.

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