Fellowship - Aerosol-mediated modifiable risk to Alzheimer's disease

The deleterious actions of metal cations on biological life are well known, as are the essential roles of others e.g. Calcium (Ca) & Magnesium (Mg). The archetypal example is Lead, (Pb) which causes the multi-system failure of organisms; toxic in minute quantities particularly in a developmental setting. Biology has evolved ion channels and highly sensitive reversible switching mechanisms utilised by Ca & Mg. Pb mimics these ions but, locks these switches into a fixed position – irreversibly compromising function.

The scientific literature and reference data show that the properties of Lead (Pb) and other metal ions for example Cadmium (Cd) and Aluminium (Al) are sufficiently alike that one should - prima facie - be concerned that other metals are of similar concern to public health.

The parallels between these metals are both startling and alarming, particularly their ubiquitous use by society. It is puzzling, given its relative abundance, that (like Pb) there is no known biological role for Al. However, among their differences the extraction of Al is very energy intensive. In contrast, Pb has been available for thousands of years. It has taken Western Society more than two thousand years to act decisively on Pb - despite evidence of poisoning being rediscovered on many occasions since the times of Vitruvius. Since the discovery of The Bayer Process, anthropological drivers of the last two hundred years have exposed the kingdoms of life to more aluminium than in all of pre-history.

This should be a cause for concern because the majority of metal cations are to some extent toxic. Early research into Alzheimer’s Disease found Al within the neurological cells of Alzheimer’s patients. In the intervening decades no conclusive proof has emerged of a causal link between Al and dementias. As a result it is no longer ‘en vogue’ as a research topic. Al has been shown to be deleterious to both plant and animal life and we believe that the examination of the evidence to date can be used to directly infer the deleterious effects upon DNA and RNA transcription and translation – essential to all forms of known life. The literature demonstrates both non-functional protein agglomeration and compromised replicative function of model organisms in the presence of Al.

A discriminating analysis has yet to be made because: a putative mechanism has not been successfully tested, the onset of dementia typically takes many decades and environmental factors are complex to disambiguate. Dementia symptoms present principally as neurological disorders but are also accompanied by multi-system effects (interestingly like Pb but less acute).

Evidence in the scientific literature on dementia risk factors points to the positive effects of a ‘Mediterranean-like’ diet and increased risk due to proximity to higher traffic flows.

The process of internal combustion (hydrocarbon fuels burned within a metal cylinder block and passing through a catalytic converter) provides a high-pressure and high temperature reaction vessel - the necessary conditions for the production of complex organometallic compounds that are fat soluble and readily absorbed by respiration.

A Mediterranean diet mitigates this exposure because it provides a cocktail of chelation agents that permit the body to sequester metal ions and remove it through urine. Chelation agents such as: flavonoids - found in freshly prepared black coffee and red wine and, vitamin C and citric acid - the latter is the only mechanism found in the literature by which plants have adapted to cope with the presence of Metal ions which otherwise accumulates at the meristems. In the extreme the residents of the Auvergne drink water (e.g. Volvic) naturally rich in silicates which also chelate and appear to suffer very little, if any symptoms of dementia.

Assuming this is so, one would expect that the likelihood of dementia to be correlated with the lifetime exposure to particulate aluminium by inhalation of combustion exhaust gases and mitigated by the positive effects of good diet. Unfortunately, it also suggests that the chemistry of Metal ions is essentially irreversible (while also maintaining proper cellular function of cerebral tissues) and therefore the emphasis should be on the prevention of dementia.