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by Lynn Landes 8/19/02
Americans are losing their minds to Alzheimer's disease. It's an epidemic. And it's not typical of what's going on in the rest of the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 18 million people with Alzheimer's. Over 4 1/2 million Americans have the disease. We account for 25% of all Alzheimer's cases, even though we represent only 4.6% of the world's population. Europe is experiencing half our rate of disease. For Americans over 85 years of age, 50% are thought to have Alzheimer's.
The question is, "Why?"
Alzheimer's was first discovered in 1906. It is not a part of normal aging, says the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH contends that the cause of Alzheimer's is "not known." They say, "Prior theories regarding the accumulation of aluminum, lead, mercury, and other substances in the brain have been disproved."
Don't believe that. Federal agencies have a talent for not finding environmental causes for many diseases. They live by the motto, "Do not seek and thou shall not find." Genetic triggers and lifestyle choices get the research dollars for pretty obvious reasons - their findings don't hurt polluters' profits.
The world's scientists and government researchers have not taken aluminum off the scientific table as a causal factor in Alzheimer's. Research scientists with the International Aluminum Network report, "Aluminum has been implicated ...as a potential factor or cofactor in the Alzheimer's syndrome, as well as in the etiopathogenesis of other neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinsonism, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and other diseases." That's a mouthful, but you get the picture.
Initially, it was thought that aluminum might be the sole cause of Alzheimer's. Persons with Alzheimer's have been found to experience increased absorption of aluminum in the brain, as well as exhibit densities of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. However, there are reports that suggest plaques and tangles do not always signify Alzheimer's, and vice versa.
Further clouding the issue are patients on kidney dialysis machines. They are unable to excrete aluminum, plus they may also be treated with medicines that include aluminum. However, reports say that dialysis patients don't develop Alzheimer's, although they can develop dialysis dementia if the equipment doesn't filter out aluminum. And therein lies a clue.
The process of kidney dialysis requires very purified, non-fluoridated water. What does this mean? Perhaps fluoride is aluminum's partner-in-crime.
In 1998 Julie Varner and two colleagues published research on the effects of aluminum-fluoride and sodium-fluoride on the nervous system of rats. They concluded, "Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride and sodium-fluoride in the drinking water of rats resulted in distinct morphological alterations of the brain, including the effects on neurons and cerebrovasculature." In layman's terms, it looked like fluoride and aluminum could cause Alzheimer's.
That was not a definitive study, but they may have been onto something. Aluminum is in our drinking water, foods, and many consumer products. Adding fluoride to drinking water in the U.S. started in the 1950's. America's drinking water is now over 60% fluoridated. Fluoride appears in many processed foods and beverages made with fluoridated water. Keep in mind, Europe has half our rate of Alzheimer's. They don't fluoridate their water supplies, but they do use fluoride supplements and dental products. Is there a connection?
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