# Aluminum & Alzheimer's column - Cecil has a time machine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 1, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597 "2003-07-01T15:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/1 "2003-07-01T15:52:06Z")
[Does exposure to aluminum cause Alzheimer’s disease? 18-Nov-1983](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_216a.html) > [@](#): > > I first wrote about aluminum as a possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease in 1983, and here it is all these years later and they’re still not sure. “[A]ll these years later”? Does that refer to when the column was posted or what? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/2 "2003-07-01T19:14:41Z")
Whether or not he has a time machine, I happen to work specifically on Alzheimer’s Disease (Institute of Psychiatric Research, IU School of Medicine). Aluminum has pretty much been eliminated from the running as even a partial cause. Unfortunately, the popular press is always real big on trumpeting disaster and even bigger on ignoring “oh, we exaggerated some preliminary findings that the actual scientists never blew out of proportion the way we did, so never mind”. What has been discovered of interest is that dietary cholesterol likely contributes to Alzheimer’s Disease, or at least to the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain: > **[The role of cholesterol in the biosynthesis of beta-amyloid - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10501560/?dopt=Abstract)** > > Addition of the beta-hydroxy-beta-methylglutaryl-CoA (HmG-CoA) reductase inhibitor lovastatin to human HEK cells transfected with the amyloid precursor protein (APP) reduces intracellular cholesterol/protein ratios by 50%, and markedly inhibits... > **[Cholesterol depletion inhibits the generation of beta-amyloid in hippocampal...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9600988/?dopt=Abstract)** > > The amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. During intracellular transport APP undergoes a series of proteolytic cleavages that lead to the release either of an amyloidogenic fragment called... And there may be some evidence that copper plays a role in this: > **[Metalloenzyme-like activity of Alzheimer's disease beta-amyloid. Cu-dependent...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12192006/?dopt=Abstract)** > > Beta-amyloid (Abeta) 1-42, implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, forms an oligomeric complex that binds copper at a CuZn superoxide dismutase-like binding site. Abeta.Cu complexes generate neurotoxic H(2)O(2) from O(2) through Cu(2+)... But aluminum? Nope, not a suspect anymore. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/3 "2003-07-06T07:55:15Z")
Whatever the role of aluminum in Alzheimer’s disease I can’t imagine that it is totally harmless. Aluminum is a soft metal. It’s really a cinch to avoid it, even in deodorant. Why risk it? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/4 "2003-07-06T13:56:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Whatever the role of aluminum in Alzheimer’s disease I can’t imagine that it is totally harmless. That’s why we have people like **Dogface** doing research, rather than just taking an opinion pole. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/5 "2003-07-06T13:58:04Z")
_damit!_ poll ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/6 "2003-07-06T14:05:34Z")
**Jeff** , to your point: When the SD posts some of Cecil’s old columns on here, they wisely edit them slightly. So that first sentence was not in the original print article from 1983. Most of the rest of the column was transferred verbatim. The original is in _The Straight Dope_ volume from the mid-1980’s. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/7 "2003-07-06T14:08:47Z")
They usually have an “updated” tag on those, though. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-alzheimers-column-cecil-has-a-time-machine/185597/8 "2003-07-06T16:44:49Z")
Actually, Cecil’s _print_ column was reworked more than I first thought. Some was dropped, some was added. I should say that _much_ of the wording was from the earlier print column.