Fact or Fiction ? Do antiperspirants cause Alzheimer’s Disease ?
August 11, 2007 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
There’s an interesting article over at Scientific American.com asking the question ‘Do Antiperspirants cause dementia or breast cancer?’
According to this article ‘ The antiperspirant finger-pointing began more than 40 years ago with new discoveries about Alzheimer’s, a progressive dementia that affects more than five million Americans. Antiperspirants use compounds—such as aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate and aluminum zirconium—to form a temporary sweat duct plug. Researchers back then found that exposure to aluminum caused rabbits’ brains to develop nerve cell damage—thought to be a precursor to Alzheimer’s at the time—and long-term dialysis patients with high levels of the metal developed dementia’.
Fact or Fiction?
The article goes on to say…
William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago, calls the notion that antiperspirants could cause Alzheimer’s disease an old legend. “One of the things that happens in Alzheimer’s brains is that they shrink,” he says. “So, you have accumulated a certain amount of aluminum in your brain, and as your brain shrinks, the concentration is going to appear high.”
This is not a new debate. Other articles over the years include:
Aluminum and Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease (1998)
Aluminium and Alzheimer’s disease (2002)
No link between aluminium uptake from food-contact articles and Alzheimer’s disease (2005)
Can Antiperspirants Cause Alzheimer’s? An Expert Answer (2006)
Alzheimer’s & Aluminum Toxicity
What’s your take on this debate?
