Exposure to Aluminum in Daily Life and Alzheimer's Disease.

Aluminum is the third most abundant element on the earth's crust and has been considered a constituent of rather inert minerals. Therefore, it has often been regarded as not having a significant health hazard. Consequently, aluminum-containing agents have been used in processing, packaging, and storage of food products and also in the treatment of drinking water as flocculants. Recently, acid rain due to environmental pollution has transported more aluminum-containing minerals into residential drinking water resources. It is therefore not surprising that aluminum burden in the human body has increased. Research data showed that aluminum is not as safe as was previously thought and that aluminum may contribute to the initial advancement of Alzheimer's disease. Aluminum-mediated neurodegeneration resulting in cognitive dysfunction has been associated with amyloidβ (Aβ) deposition, formation of intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and apoptotic neuronal death characterized histopathologically in AD. The origin of Alzheimer's disease is generally not known; its development is likely triggered by unknown environmental factors. Although it is inconsistent with the link between human exposure to aluminum in everyday life and its contribution to Alzheimer's disease, a growing body of evidence points to aluminum as being one such significant influence.