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In article > ,
(Davio McDavitt) wrote:

> Poor Kim sems to have commited an unforgivable sin by bringing up the
> subject of Alminyum and Alzymers.
>
> Although I am not competent to address the subject on scientific
> grounds I think that it is not possible to eliminate culpability based
> on other (non scientific) evidence.
>
> Scientists are human and when I learned that a scientist took $18
> Million from the Auminum industry to set up a proxy organization even
> I started to accept that there could be a case.
>
> For several years a principal source of funding for symposia and
> research on AD in the USA was that organization. When some publicity
> emerged a new proxy set-up took over with the same individual in the
> top slot.
>
> Did the Alzheimer's Association accept a computer system from the
> Aluminum industry?? I have heard from one source (not verified) that
> they did.
>
> Papers are still emerging, based on large large scale studies, that
> show a correlation of the incidence of dementia and aluminum in
> drinking water.
>
> It is starting to look as though gene expression of the most common
> genetic defect predisposing people to AD also (?) confers an
> incompetence in dealing with aluminum. I for one will start believing
> in a link if the molecular biologists findings are repeated.
>
> McDavitt

I AM a scientist. I briefly studied aluminum in grad school. I can
also spell. The link between aluminum in drinking water and Alzheimer's
disease was first suspected in the late 1970's, when people who were
getting hemodialysis in areas with high levels of aluminum in the water
developed dementia. Once the link was realized, dialysis centers
treated their water to get rid of the aluminum and incidence of the
condition decreased. In addition, some patients with kidney failure
were taking aluminum-containing antacids to reduce their absorption of
phosphorus, which could cause bone disease. The fraction of aluminum
that got absorbed was implicated in a different type of bone disease.
Nowadays, kidney failure patients get calcium-containing antacids to
reduce phosphorus absorption from the gut. This has also reduced the
incidence of aluminum toxicity.

A major distinction needs to be made here. Folks with kidney failure
cannot rid their bodies of many toxins, including aluminum. If they go
on hemodialysis,their blood gets treated three times a week to flush out
the toxins that the kidneys can't. The dialysis requires large amounts
of water, much more than mere mortals could drink in a day.

For fun, I just looked for recent articles (2000 and later) on aluminum
and dementia on PubMed. I only saw one "large scale" study (2700
subjects at baseline). They found a two-fold increase in risk of
dementia when water aluminum content was greater than 0.1 part per
million, but found no dose effect (the more aluminum, the higher the
risk). Compare this to smoking, where there is a 12-20-fold increase in
risk of lung cancer with a dose effect. Many of the other studies I
found involved dosing rabbits and rats with far greater amounts of
aluminum than healthy people would take in.

I require a higher threshold of proof to believe in a link between
aluminum and Alzheimer's disease in people without kidney failure who
don't work in aluminum smelting plants.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

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