How is aluminum related to Alzheimer’s disease? Dead people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease show a significant amount of aluminum in their blood. Live patients are normally diagnosed with dementia versus Alzheimer’s, because the only true way to be certain you have Alzheimer’s is by an autopsy. It’s proven that most people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease have a high content of aluminum in their blood, but not all people with a high content of aluminum in their blood have Alzheimer’s disease.

Things that contain aluminum that you may want to try to avoid, or at least read the labeling on are as follows: antiperspirants, drinking water, medications, and foods. If you use an antiperspirant deodorant you run into the risk of inhaling aluminum. Some foods that contain high aluminum are: potatoes, cornbread, and processed cheese. Some drinks are as follows: beer, tea, infant formula, and drinking water. As far as medications you want to watch over-the-counter meds especially antacids, and buffered aspirin. The average human intake is between thirty to fifty mg per day and drinking water is less than one forth of the daily intake we consume.

There was also research done on aluminum cookware and cans. Researchers questioned whether using aluminum pans or utensils would have an effect of the amount of aluminum in your blood. It turns out that it would not affect on the high aluminum content unless you were cooking acidic foods in an aluminum pan, then your risk may increase to a higher level. Cans are not a great risk, as they contribute a small amount to the daily aluminum intake. Mainly, because cans are coated with polymer to extract the aluminum from them to make them safer.

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic disease that takes a long time to develop. It normally targets older people. The symptoms increase in severity, as you get older. Some symptoms include: behavioral or personality changes, problems with short term memory loss, trouble understanding ideas (as simple as planning daily activities), and as a result, patients become extremely frustrated and irritable. As the disease becomes more advanced patients may have long-term memory loss. Patients may wander around aimlessly, lose control of bladder and bowel movements, and it becomes almost impossible to carry a conversation, from lack of remembering names of things.

There are two different forms of Alzheimer’s disease; one that is found less frequently as a genetic disorder, and another which is the most common that science still has yet to determine its cause. Studies are focusing more on aluminum intake statistics as far as a possible cause, or higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Aluminum is one of the most common elements in the environment, its unavoidable; however, less than one percent taken orally is absorbed into your body.

Dementia has several similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s disease: short-term memory, progressive impairment of intellectual functions, and drastic personality changes, as mentioned earlier; which is why a lot of people confuse the two diseases. Once the patient is deceased and there is an autopsy performed to view the brain at a microscopic level; if they find neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and senile plaques in the brain, then it can be officially declared that the patient suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

NFT’s are known to disrupt the neurons making a person have nervous impulses. It does this because the neurons are unable to send messages; which make the patient respond to their surroundings by losing control of a large amount of their dementia characteristics. M.Hollosi performed a study that resulted in the aluminum levels in Alzheimer’s disease patients ranged between six to twelve parts per million in lesion containing areas versus between zero and fifteen parts per million in areas that had not experienced noticeable degeneration; which is much higher than any amount found in a non-Alzheimer diseased brain.

Aluminum is a well documented neurotoxin, as it replaces the usual metal ions in proteins and enzymes, making the metabolic rate of the cell to decrease. A possible treatment to delay some excess aluminum from accumulating in the human body that has been suggested by some is: desferrioxamine (DFO), as it slows the build-up of aluminum in the brain. Another way to naturally minimize aluminum accumulation is by taking your recommended dietary allowance of calcium, magnesium, and zinc.

Now that you have become more familiar with the ways aluminum is related to Alzheimer’s disease a tip to remember when shopping is: aluminum is not absorbed as much through the gut as through the skin, so pick out your deodorants carefully. Also, studies show that high aluminum in drinking water increases the risk for Alzheimer’s disease; however, another study shows that dissolved silica in the water actually decreases your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. It is clear that aluminum increases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease; it’s just not fully clear as to how….. yet. In the meantime, chose your drinking water carefully.

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