Traces of Alzheimer's detected in some animal species.

[Catherine]

Quote:Catherine, I am not seeking to divert the original topic of this thread. The topic of Alzheimer's is serious and it is now affecting animals as well as humans. I am just mentioning that aluminium seems the one thing which has definitely increased in the atmosphere over the last few decades - and it definitely has a serious effect on the brain. So it could well be a common environmental factor which is causing the recent rapid increase in Alzheimer's.

I think this is right on the original topic. Current studies are looking at genetic links and life style issues. Diabetes and cardiovascular health definitely have a link to AD. Head trauma has a definite link. These things put a person more at risk for AD.
They don't explain the increase in AD or its presence in animals. The fact that we are seeing Alzheimer's Disease in chimps and Dolphins puts us back to looking at the environment.

They have looked at Aluminum as a cause for AD, but I think they were looking for too direct a link. They want to be able to inject Al and get AD. It is not that simple. We have increased the environmental background levels of Al. It would be everywhere and in everything. We breath it, we drink it and we eat it. So do dolphins and chimps.

That video is interesting. I didn't realize there was so much work being done on cloud formation. That would be one way Al is getting into our environment. I suspect it works like low level exposure to carcinogens. We all get exposed, but not everyone develops cancer. Some are more susceptible. That doesn't mean the carcinogen is not the cause. It is the cause, but some people are able to handle higher levels of exposure. 

We are all exposed to Al. Since we have increased environmental level of Al we are experiencing greater exposure. That would also explain why AD increases with age. We are looking at prolonged exposure. It increases our risk. Less susceptible people will still avoid the disease the same way some people don't develop cancer. Only some of the dolphins and chimps will show signs of AD. We may find signs of AD in other animals. It is quite possible that Al is the link to AD. If it is, we have a problem. We have exposed the whole planet to higher levels of Al. We can't unexposed it. We need to reduce the environmental levels of Al to something more natural. 
On an individual level we may need to find ways of reducing the Al levels in the human body. I don't know how we are going to help animals that we have put at risk. Right now therapies are directed at people who already have developed AD. It could be more effective to treat people who do not have AD disease to stop its onset. We are probably now all at risk for AD.
Finding AD in animals is a very bad thing. We should be worried and we need to go back to looking at the environment as the basic cause of AD.