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http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2187
The Environmental Magazine, CT
January/February 2005
Vol. XVI, no. 1
Heavy Metal?
Exploring the Aluminum/Alzheimer's Link
by Melissa Knopper

In natural health circles, many people are tossing aluminum pans and using
holistic underarm crystals instead of conventional antiperspirant. Their
choices are fueled by an ongoing mystery surrounding aluminum. About 20
years ago, scientists first raised questions about a possible link between
aluminum and Alzheimer's disease. Since then, researchers have gone back and
forth on this question. As soon as one publishes a study showing a
connection, another disproves it. These days, most of the top medical
experts, from the Mayo Clinic to the Alzheimer's Association, say there
really is no reason to panic.


But other agencies, including the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS), continue to look into it because aluminum is so ubiquitous
in our daily lives. We swallow it in foods like processed cheese and baked
goods. Babies encounter it in formula, breast milk and vaccines. Since
aluminum is both strong and lightweight, more auto manufacturers are relying
on it to boost fuel efficiency. That means more aluminum byproducts will
enter the air, water and, ultimately, the landfills.

"The Alzheimer's risk with aluminum hasn't been well defined," says Robert
Yokel, a University of Kentucky pharmacy professor who is studying aluminum
for the NIEHS. "You have to weigh risks and benefits. My personal opinion is
if you can make simple choices to avoid it until we sort this thing out, why
not?"

One certainty is that Alzheimer's disease is not going away. As the baby
boom generation ages and more Americans live longer, this devastating
illness is affecting more patients and their families. Currently, about five
percent of people over age 60 will develop Alzheimer's disease. Some
research shows a relationship between aluminum and other nervous-system
disorders, such as Lou Gehrig's disease and Parkinson's Disease.

Pros and Cons

Scientists first became aware of aluminum's potential health risks 20 years
ago, when a group of kidney patients came down with a similar form of
dementia after being exposed to aluminum through dialysis. Another study
found aluminum inside the plaques and tangles that appear in Alzheimer's
patients' brains.

Meanwhile, a few epidemiological studies found that people with a high level
of aluminum in their drinking water had a higher incidence of Alzheimer's.
Other studies that followed, however, did not show the same correlation.
Studies of cultures that drink large amounts of tea (which leaches a lot of
aluminum) also did not show a link. After several decades, scientists have
been unable to replicate the original studies showing aluminum deposits in a
brain affected by Alzheimer's. "There was an aluminum scare 20 years ago,
but it now looks like there is no connection," says Harvard Alzheimer's
researcher Dr. Ashley Bush.

New research, by Bush and others, shows Alzheimer's to be a much more
complex illness than anyone had imagined. Bush's laboratory is developing a
promising new drug that prevents zinc from reacting with the proteins that
form the abnormal deposits in brains attacked by Alzheimer's. Phase III
clinical trials of the drug, developed by Prana Biotech
(http://www.pranabio.com), will begin next year.

Experts now believe if aluminum does appear in an Alzheimer's brain, it's
simply because it is so common in our environment. "It's a major component
of the Earth's crust, so it shows up everywhere," Bush says. As for food and
water contamination, aluminum probably isn't much of a threat because most
of it passes right through the intestines without being absorbed.

Some natural health advocates disagree with this position. Suzan Walter is
president of the American Holistic Health Association, and her mother died
of Alzheimer's. She says many natural health experts advise patients to
avoid aluminum based on the precautionary principle, and she takes steps to
avoid it in her personal life. "We don't know what causes Alzheimer's, but
why not stay away from aluminum just in case?" Walter asks. "It doesn't
compromise my life to avoid it and it can't hurt."

Paul Schwartz, national policy coordinator for Clean Water Action, adds,
"There is a valid concern to be raised about aluminum and health effects,
but the science is not definitive."

Aluminum in Food and Medicine

While the metal is not easily absorbed, the government is still paying
scientists like Yokel to make sure we are safe when it comes to dietary
sources of aluminum. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does
not limit aluminum in food because it is "generally recognized as safe." At
the same time, no one knows the exact rate the body absorbs aluminum from
food. Since food accounts for 95 percent of our aluminum intake, it's worth
examining, Yokel says. "We're looking into whether this constant exposure in
our diet is causing a problem," Yokel says. Yokel is also studying the rate
of absorption for aluminum in drinking water. For years, municipal water
treatment operators have added aluminum to their tanks to make bacteria
settle out of the final product. If Yokel's ongoing experiments show our
bodies absorb too much aluminum from tap water, the EPA may adopt stricter
regulations.

Aluminum is so common that all of us have some background level in our
bodies. For example, all mothers have traces of aluminum in their breast
milk (about 40 micrograms per liter). Infant formula has about five times as
much aluminum as breast milk (soy formula has the most). And the load just
builds from there as a person ages.

"If aluminum does cause Alzheimer's, it's possible that lifelong exposure
could contribute," Yokel says. "Sometime later in life, you could hit that
threshold and develop a problem-but it's all speculation at this point."


Certain over-the-counter medicines are loaded with aluminum. For example,
the World Health Organization estimates antacid users swallow as much as
five grams of aluminum per day. Buffered aspirin also has aluminum.

Vaccines are another little-known source of aluminum in our lives. The media
has focused a great deal on mercury in childhood vaccines. But many vaccines
also contain aluminum as an additive. That may be a concern because the body
absorbs injected aluminum more easily. Vaccine critics also question whether
mercury and aluminum might have a synergistic effect on the developing
nervous system.

Aluminum is an important part of vaccines, however, because it makes them
work better, says Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "It's used when you want to enhance the
immune response," Offit says. The Hepatitis B, tetanus and DPT vaccines
contain aluminum, as do some batches of the flu shot.

Some parent groups, such as the Virginia-based National Vaccine Information
Center, have been critical of the government's childhood vaccine policies.
They argue medical policy makers and drug companies should offer vaccines
without additives like mercury and aluminum.

While most childhood vaccines no longer contain mercury, aluminum might be
harder to replace, says FDA spokesperson Lenore Gelb. So far, no one has
identified a safe alternative that can perform the same way. Even if
researchers find a new substance, the testing and approval process would
take years, she adds.

In pockets of the country, fears about these additives are causing an
anti-vaccine backlash. Some parents are home schooling their kids to avoid
government-mandated vaccines. And what about elderly patients who might skip
their flu shot because they don't want an extra load of aluminum in their
brains?

Offit believes the immediate benefits of vaccines outweigh any future risks.
Right now, we have no definite proof that aluminum causes Alzheimer's, Offit
argues. But each year, thousands of children and elderly people die of flu
complications. "There is nothing theoretical about the flu," he says.

What About Antiperspirants?

Adults and teens who use antiperspirant every morning get another daily dose
of aluminum. While the skin absorbs a very small percentage of the aluminum
in antiperspirants, studies show, natural health advocates raise questions
about the effects of constant exposure. Antiperspirants work by plugging
sweat glands with aluminum salts.

Plenty of herbal alternatives are on the market at health food stores. But
Yokel encourages shoppers to do their homework. A check of the label on one
brand of crystal deodorant stone showed "alum" in the ingredients. That,
Yokel advises, is simply a natural form of aluminum. Another option is to
buy conventional deodorant, which should be aluminum-free as long as it
doesn't say "antiperspirant" on the label.

MELISSA KNOPPER is a Colorado-based science writer.

CONTACTS

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/
Immunization Action Coalition
Phone: (651) 647-9009

http://www.NVIC.org
National Vaccine Information Center
Phone: (703) 938-DPT3

http://www.alz.org/
Alzheimer's Association
Phone: (800) 272-3900


Environmental Working Group
1718 Connecticut Avenue NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 667-6982


Note from NVIC:

ABSTRACT on recent study on macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF), a new
inflammatory myopathy and aluminium containing vaccines

Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, 2004 Nov;58(9):516-9.
Blood oxidative stress status in patients with macrophagic myofasciitis.

Bonnefont-Rousselot D, Chantalat-Auger C, Teixeira A, Jaudon MC, Pelletier
S, Cherin P.

The study aimed at determining the presence of an oxidative stress in
patients with macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF), a new inflammatory myopathy
with suspected toxic etiology related to aluminium hydroxide-containing
vaccines. A total of 30 MMF patients (nine males, 21 females; aged 42+/-14
years), whose diagnosis was confirmed by deltoid biopsy, have been included
and compared to 38 sex- and age-matched healthy control subjects (10 males,
28 females; aged 43+/-8 years). The blood oxidative stress status has been
evaluated by assaying six parameters: plasma lipid peroxidation products
(thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances: TBARS) and antioxidant defense
systems: plasma vitamin E and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity,
erythrocyte GSH-Px and Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities. Plasma
selenium was also determined as a trace element essential to the activity of
GSH-Px. Statistical significance was evaluated by the Mann-Whitney test.
Plasma GSH-Px activity, selenium and vitamin E concentration were
significantly lower in MMF group than in controls (P=0.004, P=0.003 and
P=0.009, respectively), with a positive correlation in MMF patients between
plasma GSH-Px activity and selenium concentration (rho=0.0001). The other
parameters of oxidative stress did not significantly differ between both
groups. A macrophage activation could occur in MMF, consequently to chronic
stimulation by aluminium-containing vaccines, and could participate to the
lower values of selenium and vitamin E observed in comparison with controls.
Nevertheless, since no deficiency in these elements has been observed, no
supplementation is to be considered.


Brain. 2001 May;124(Pt 5):974-83.
Central nervous system disease in patients with macrophagic myofasciitis
http://brain.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/124/5/974


Neuromuscul Disord. 2004 Feb;14(2):175-7. Related Articles, Links
Macrophagic myofasciitis: an infantile Italian case.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Ab
stract&list_uids=14733966

Revue Neurologique (Paris). 2003 Feb;159(2):162-4.
Lessons from macrophagic myofasciitis: towards a definition of a vaccination
adjuvant-related syndrome.
http://www.e2med.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewArtDossier&DartIdx=145055&DIss
Idx=8526&DChapIdx=64174



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