Aluminum, environment and central nervous system disease

Using microprobe techniques, we have identified accumulations of aluminum in the neurofibrillary tangle bearing neurons of cases of Alzheimer's disease and of Guam natives who suffer from parkinsonism dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Epidemiologic studies implicate local environmental influences in the induction of the diseases of the Guam natives and, by analogy, suggest that unique environmental factors related to trace elemental constituents may play an important pathogenetic role in Alzheimer's disease and similar neurodegenerative diseases, as seen in other settings.