ALUMINUM, ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND BONE FRAGILITY

The incidence of fragility fractures has increased epidemically. Espec ially patients with senile dementia (including Alzheimer's disease) ha ve a greatly increased risk of fragility fractures. Aluminum inhibits bone mineralization; the greater the aluminium exposure, the higher th e risk of an early fracture. Aluminium is neurotoxic and may, in addit ion to genetic factors, play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease by contributing to the formation of the characteristic beta-am yloid and neurofibrillary tangles, Thus, a common denominator between Alzheimer's disease and bone fragility may be a chronic low-grade alum inum intoxication. The epidemic of fragility fractures may be caused b y increased aluminium exposure-due to the use of aluminum cooking pots or the pollution acidification of our environment, In our pilot study of 26 hip-fracture patients (13 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 13 individually age-and gender-matched non-demented patients), the al uminum content, determined mass-spectrometrically, was higher in trabe cular bone biopsies from the patients with Alzheimer's disease than fr om the non-demented patients (p=0.005). The aluminum content was also higher in the younger of the 26 patients (p=0.02). Our findings agree with the hypothesis that aluminum plays a role in the development of A lzheimer's disease and bone fragility.