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First Case Study to Show Direct Link Between Alzheimer’s and Aluminum Toxicity

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A well-known neurotoxin such as aluminum and a chronic exposure to the same can be a factor in a lot of neurological diseases such as autism, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. Although it is hard to have a definitive scientific proof because of the lack of longitudinal studies and because of the pushback from industries that use this neurotoxin in their products, there is no room for doubt.

A recent study from Keele University in the UK studying the case of an individual exposed to aluminum at work showed that the neurotoxin was present in the brain in high levels. The person later died from Alzheimer’s disease.

Although exposure to aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer’s and a lot of other neurological diseases, this case claims to be the first direct link between this disease and high levels of aluminum in the brain due to occupational exposure.

The Aluminum – Alzheimer’s Link

An elderly man developed an aggressive form of early onset Alzheimer’s disease after working for eight years in a position where he was exposed to aluminum dust. But this case is not the first time that tissues with high levels of aluminum have been found in someone who died of Alzheimer’s disease. In 2004, this was the case of a British woman who died of an early-onset Alzheimer’s, 16 years after an industrial accident dumped 20 metric tons of aluminum sulfate into her local drinking water.

There are a lot of studies that show the effects of high aluminum levels in people and their link to a wide range of neurological symptoms.

Aluminum Can Be an Occupational Hazard

People who work in industries such as mining, welding, agriculture and factory work are exposed to aluminum on a daily basis. Another way people are exposed to this neurotoxin is when they inhale cigarette smoke.

What happens when you inhale aluminum dust or vapors is that aluminum particles are sent straight to your lungs in a highly absorbable form. From your lungs, they enter your bloodstream, which running all over your body, distributes them to every part of it, including the bones and the brain. This can cause pulmonary fibrosis and aluminum factory workers are prone to asthma. This is why it’s considered to be an occupational hazard.

The ‘Dark Side’ of Aluminum Exposed

One filmmaker’s concerns about the effects of the aluminum on the human body and the environment were the reason for the documentary “The Age of Aluminum”. It explores the scientific links between aluminum and diseases such as breast cancer and neurological disorders. Another aspect is the effects of the aluminum mining and manufacturing on the ecological problems around the world which lead to environmental disasters in Hungary, South Africa, and the UK. In the film, neuroscientist Christopher Shaw reports:“Many researchers are beginning to accept that aluminum has some sort of role to play in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Whether it does to others is still an open question, but Alzheimer’s is really coming into focus and it’s fairly clear that the body burden of aluminum from all the sources to which humans are exposed may be contributing to Alzheimer’s disease”.

Aluminum is Everywhere

Aluminum occurs naturally in the soil, the water, and the air, but people contribute to the load with the mining and processing of aluminum ores, manufacturing of aluminum products and the operation of coal-fired power plants and incinerators. Aluminum actually can’t be destroyed in the environment, it just changes the form by attaching or separating from other particles. Aluminum particles rather accumulate than degrade after they have been washed out of the air by rain and gone into our water supply. If you live in an industrial area, your exposure is definitively higher than average.

According to CDC, an average adult in the US consumes about seven to nine mg of aluminum per day in food and a lesser amount from the air and water. If your body is functioning well, only one percent of this will be absorbed into it, the rest will be moved out by your digestive tract.

A significant part of the problem with aluminum is the manufacturing process because aluminum contamination has been found in numerous products on the market such as:

• Foods such as baking powder, self-rising flour, salt, baby formula, coffee creamers, baked goods and processed foods, coloring and caking agents
• Drugs such as antacids, analgesics, antidiarrhealsetc; additives such as magnesium stearate
• Vaccines – Hepatitis A and B, Hib, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), pneumococcal vaccine, Gardasil (HPV) and others
• Cosmetics and personal care products such as antiperspirants, deodorants (including salt crystals, made of alum), lotions, sunscreens and shampoos
• Aluminum products, including foil, cans, juice pouches, tins, and water bottles

Does Your Frozen Dinner Come with a Side of Aluminum?

A study published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe showed the results after analyzing 1431 non-animal foods and beverages for aluminum content. What they found is:

• 77.8% had an aluminum concentration of up to 10mg/kg
• 17.5% had aluminum concentrations between 10 and 100mg/kg
• 4.6% of the samples had aluminum concentrations in excess of 100mg/kgThis is why aluminum contamination in our food supply is a more significant problem than we may think. Aluminum compounds are often used as additives in foodstuffs. Aluminum is unstable in the presence of acids and bases and additional contamination occurs when food comes into contact with aluminum equipment and other items. The protective oxide film of the aluminum equipment can be damaged as fine fissures develop from normal wear and tear. The study showed that there is aluminum content in products ranging from flour and baking mixes to soup, chocolate, beer and wine and herbal teas. Some of those show a wide range of contamination levels, while others are more homogenous. One of the most contaminated are baked goods because of the common practice of baking and storing foods on aluminum trays.Another way of contaminating the food with aluminum particles is cooking the food in aluminum foil. A study shows that cooking meats in aluminum foil only increases their aluminum concentration. Researchers concluded, “eating meals prepared in aluminum foil may carry a health risk by adding to other aluminum sources.” This means that one exposure here and there is not something to be concerned about, but it’s the cumulative effect of many smaller exposures over time that can lead to a toxic metal overload and erosion of your health. According to a study conducted in 2006, cooking meat in aluminum foil increased aluminum levels as follows:
  • Red meats cooked in aluminum foil showed an increase in aluminum by 89 to 378%
  • Poultry increased by 76 to 214%
  • Aluminum levels increased with higher cooking temperatures and longer cooking times
  Aluminum Heads Straight to Your Brain
  Toxic metals cause damage to the brain tissue and this leads to degenerative disease by producing oxidative stress. Of all the toxic metals aluminum is one of the worst offenders. Since Alzheimer’s rates are rapidly increasing, the aluminum exposure is a great deal of concern. It is to the central nervous system as cigarette smoke is to the lungs because once aluminum is in the tissues, the body has a hard time releasing it. The metal serves no biological purpose at all, so it’s better to ingest as less as possible.Once it gets in the body, it travels around it easily, unobstructed with the help of the iron transport system. The biological barriers such as the blood-brain barrier normally keep the toxins out, but this way the aluminum crosses those barriers. Over time, aluminum can accumulate in the brain and cause serious damage to the neurological heath. This can happen regardless of the age as it does as much damage to children as to seniors.
  Brain Inflammation in Both Children and Adults
  Even though research shows aluminum may induce serious immunological disorders and neurological complications in humans, it’s still the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant and is considered safe. This is why vaccines are a very common source of toxic metal exposure.
  Dr. David Ayoub states that aluminum in the vaccines can be even more dangerous than mercury. In the 1970s children got only four aluminum-containing vaccines in the first 18 months, but in the past 30 years that number has quadrupled and has reached to 17 vaccines that children receive in the first 18 months. As this number increases, so does the frequency of childhood neurological disorders. In one school, 90% of the children developed ADHD during the course of a single school year and their toxicity profiles all revealed massive amounts of aluminum.
  The amount of vaccines that have aluminum listed on their labels is excessive, but if we add those that do NOT have aluminum listed on the labels, “accidental exposure” due to contamination is a much more serious problem. Dr. Ayoub cites one study that found five to six times more aluminum in vaccines than what was actually listed on the labels.
  Another shocking thing is that the signs and symptoms of aluminum toxicity are very similar to the symptoms of autism, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases.Also, brain inflammation can be caused by vaccine adjuvants and it can be serious and chronic. Aluminum targets the part which is responsible for the biological processes over which the person has no conscious control (breathing, blood pressure, balance, coordination etc.) and that is the cerebellum and the autonomic nervous system. If we take a look at the MSDS sheet for aluminum, we can notice symptoms very similar to those in common neurological diseases, including memory problems, speech impairments and aphasia, dementia, depression, muscle weakness, motor disturbances and other neurological difficulties.
  Researchers Claim New Blood Test May Predict Alzheimer’s
  Even though we can’t tell for sure who will get Alzheimer’s, researchers at Georgetown University and the University of Rochester claim that they have found a blood test that can predict this with a 90% accuracy and more importantly, with no false negatives. If this research confirms, this could be a medical breakthrough of epic proportions.
  This test consists of measuring the patterns of 10 specific lipids (fat-like compounds) that are associated with the plaques found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. These 10 lipids are highly predictive of whether or not a person will become cognitively impaired. Because all of the people that participated in the study were in their 70s, it is very important to determine if the test could provide accurate results earlier, when a person is in their 40s and 50s. Even though we’re still several years away from implementing this test, researchers are very hopeful.
  Even with this test, there is still much more research that needs to be done so that we can understand what are the causes and understand the disease itself. This is because biomarkers such as lipids are tricky for Alzheimer’s because they can change during the course of the illness. Some may occur in high levels in the early phase of the disease and then after the symptoms appear they can decrease. This is why they are stage dependent. But even if we have a test that can predict whether or not someone is going to develop dementia, there is no good treatment once it’s developed. The best thing is to prevent it in the first place and that is to help your body detoxify from metals, such as aluminum.Aluminum Impairs Your Body’s Ability to Detoxify
  By removing mercury from the vaccines and replacing it with aluminum can increase the problems that both of the toxins can cause in the body. This is because aluminum impairs the body’s ability to excrete mercury by impeding the glutathione production. And glutathione is your most important intracellular detoxifier and is required for reversing oxidative stress, but when the aluminum levels are so high, the body can potentially become more toxic from the mercury that you get from flu shots and fish for example, because the body is on “aluminum overload” and the system responsible for detoxification no longer functions well.
  Sulfur is a very important dietary nutrient for metal detoxification because the body requires it to manufacture glutathione. Onions and garlic are good only if they are grown in sulfur-rich soils, but most of the soils are unfortunately sulfur deficient. This is why the animal-based proteins seem to be one of the best bets. Whey protein concentrate is particularly high in cysteine which is one of the two sulfur-bearing amino acids that are direct precursors to glutathione.
  Worth mentioning is that one of the most significant risk factors when choosing an animal protein-free diet is that you can easily become sulfur deficient. This doesn’t mean that you should eat meat in great quantity, but rather keep it balanced. The usual quantity for most of the people is about one gram of protein per kilogram of lean body weight or about half a gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Another important thing is to buy grass-fed and finished meats because most of the factory farmed meat has a lower quality and is contaminated with a lot of veterinary drugs which include antibiotics and growth hormones.
  How to Detoxify Aluminum
  Out of the numerous ways how to detoxify aluminum, the first step would be to avoid further exposure to it. We can achieve this by avoiding products such as:
  • Toothpaste containing aluminum oxyhydroxide
  • Antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride, aluminum chloralhydrate or aluminum-zirconium compounds
  • Aluminum laminated pouch drinks
  • Aluminum cookware
  • Aluminum espresso makers
  For serious Alzheimer’s disease, the following chelating agents can be helpful:
  • Silica-rich water, such as the Fiji water which contains 83 mg of silica per liter. A research conducted in 2013 came up with results that by drinking up to one liter of a silicon-rich mineral water for 12 weeks on a daily basis effectively helped in excreting aluminum via the urine, without any detrimental effects on iron and copper which are essential metals for the organism. According to the authors: “We have provided preliminary evidence that over 12 weeks of silicon-rich mineral water therapy, the body burden of aluminum fell in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and, concomitantly, cognitive performance showed clinically relevant improvements in at least 3 out of 15 individuals”.
  • Melatonin: According to the research, melatonin has a metal binding role. It can be a very useful supplement when it comes to treatment of neurological disorders in which oxidative stress is involved, which includes Alzheimer’s. Melatonin travels through all cellular barriers without any obstructions and facilitates the removal of toxic metals. Also, it suppresses the oxidative activity of aluminum in the brain.
  • Anything that raises your glutathione. Glutathione is synthesized from three amino acids: cysteine, glutamate, and glycine. Raw fruits and vegetables (avocado, asparagus, grapefruit, strawberry, orange, tomato, cantaloupe, broccoli, okra, peach, zucchini, and spinach) are rich in the precursor’s glutamate and glycine. Dietary sources of cysteine include eggs, meat, red peppers, garlic, onions, Brussels sprouts, whey protein and wheat germ. Also, there are other helpful treatments for improved glutathione metabolism:
    • Exercise: this affects your adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels that are needed to help produce glutathione
    • Optimizing your vitamin D levels through sun exposure: vitamin D increases intracellular glutathione levels
    • Epsom salt baths
    • MSM supplementation
    • The supplement N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) may also be useful. NAC is the rate-limiting nutrient for the formation of the intracellular antioxidant glutathione.
    • Curcumin helps as some sort of protection against aluminum-induced damage by modulating the extent of oxidative stress. Other roles of curcumin include decreasing beta-amyloid plaques that are associated with Alzheimer’s, delaying neuron degradation, chelating metals, decreasing microglia formation and it has an overall anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effect. Recent studies show that curcumin helps in the improvement of the memory in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s. However, curcumin is not recommended if you have biliary tract obstruction because it stimulates bile secretion, gallstones, obstructive jaundice or acute biliary colic.
    In Summary
    There is a lot of evidence that shows the role of aluminum in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. It’s not surprising at all that people with aluminum toxicity have same symptoms as those that suffer from Parkinson’s, ADHD, dementia, autism and many other neurological diseases. This comes from that fact that aluminum targets exactly those areas of the brain and the nervous system.
    The best thing to do as prevention is to make smart choices about our food and personal products, minimize the use of vaccines and other drugs as they are often contaminated with aluminum. Another very important thing is to optimize the dietary sulfur because our bodies need sulfur to produce glutathione, the number one weapon against aluminum overload. By doing this, we minimize the exposure while we maximize our bodies’ ability to cleanse of aluminum.
    Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/03/22/aluminum-toxicity-alzheimers.aspx?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=facebookmercola_ranart-ths&utm_campaign=20161120_aluminum-toxicity-alzheimers