DIET & HYGIENE: Researchers find growing evidence that aluminum contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s. Find out more.
A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports continues to support a growing body of evidence that aluminum contributes to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Researchers found aluminum co-located with phosphorylated tau protein, which is an early initiator of AD.
This study builds upon two earlier published studies (including Mold et al., 2020, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease) from the same group.
The new data demonstrate that aluminum is co-located with phosphorylated tau protein, present as tangles within neurons in the brains of early-onset or familial Alzheimer’s disease.
Evidence aluminum plays a role
“The presence of these tangles is associated with neuronal cell death, and observations of aluminum in these tangles may highlight a role for aluminum in their formation,” explained lead investigator Matthew John Mold, PhD, Birchall Centre, Lennard-Jones Laboratories, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.
The earlier research highlighted widespread co-localization of aluminum and amyloid-β in brain tissue in familial AD.
The researchers used a highly-selective method of immunolabelling in the current study, combined with aluminum-specific fluorescence microscopy.
‘Unequivocal association’ with tau
Phosphorylated tau in tangles co-located with aluminum in the brain tissue of the same cohort of Colombian donors with familial AD were identified.
“It is of interest and perhaps significance with respect to aluminum’s role in AD that its unequivocal association with tau is not as easily recognizable as with amyloid-β.
“There are many more aggregates of aluminum with amyloid-β than with tau in these tissues and the latter are predominantly intracellular,” remarked co-author, Professor Christopher Exley.
Aluminum presence may precede tau
George Perry, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, comments: “Aluminum accumulation has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease for nearly half a century, but it is the meticulously specific studies of Drs. Mold and Exley that are defining the exact molecular interaction of aluminum and other multivalent metals that may be critical to formation of the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.”
“The new data may suggest that the association of aluminum with extracellular senile plaques precedes that with intracellular aggregates of tau.
“These relationships with both amyloid-β and tau may account for the high levels of aluminum observed in the brain tissue of donors with familial AD versus those without a diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease,” said Dr. Mold.
“Tau and amyloid-beta are known to act in synergy to produce neurotoxicity in AD and our data provide new evidence for a role of aluminum in this process.”
SOURCE:
REFERENCE:>
Matthew John Mold, Adam O’Farrell, Benjamin Morris, Christopher Exley. Aluminum and Tau in Neurofibrillary Tangles in Familial Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, 2021; 5 (1): 283 DOI: 10.3233/ADR-210011
So how does one get aluminum in their body? That would be helpful information
Nanci, a good source for the kind of information is the reputable website NutritionFacts.org . Here are some of the videos there:
Aluminum in Vaccines vs. Food
Is There Too Much Aluminum in Tea?
Are Aluminum Pots, Bottles, and Foil Safe?
It is irresponsible, at best, to mention anti-perspirants containing aluminum in this context. I can easily find several studies showing that aluminum was not absorbed through the skin and not a single study that shows it is. Here is so much legitimate fear about dementia. Stoking that fear with innuendo is wrong. I noticed that several adds mentioning aluminum free deodorants were on the page that opened with the link to the article. So it seems there’s a financial/marketing motive for this. So sketchy. This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Thank you, your correction is pretty much on the mark and duly accepted. Therefore, all references to skin absorption and antiperspirants have been removed from this article. As for the ads, Amazon places them on the page automatically, to best serve readers based on their interest. Please keep the feedback coming.