The aluminum hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease: A personal view based on microprobe analysis

Although bulk aluminum analyses have produced conflicting results, microprobe analysis have demonstrated focal accumulations within the neurofibrillary tangle-bearing neurons associated with Alzheimer's disease. Similar accumulations have been identified within the numerous tangle-bearing neurons encountered in the brains of the indigenous natives of the island of Guam who suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism with dementia. These findings are discussed in relationship to environmental factors and the inherent integrity of barrier systems which insure isolation of the central nervous system from those environmental sources of aluminum.