Is Copper to Blame? Research Says the Metal May Cause Alzheimer’s

Studying Alzheimer’s disease. Photo credit: Argonne National Laboratory

New research by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) revealed that copper, when found in excess in the brain, could be encouraging dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

A high amount of copper in our diet could be due to any number of contributing factors; the metal is found in everything from the plumbing in our houses to the food on our dinner plates. It even has a particularly high content level in chocolate (there’s 3.8 mg of copper in just 100 grams of cocoa powder.)

Nuts, chocolate, oysters and steak — just a few copper rich foods. Photo credit: www.themedifastplan.com

Nevertheless, “copper is a vital mineral for the body,” says Dr. Doug Brown, from the Alzheimer’s Society, “[so] people should treat these results with caution and not cut it out of their diet. More research is needed to understand the role that copper might play in the brain.”

“It even has a particularly high content level in chocolate”

Alzheimer’s is currently the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Of late, this brain disease remains incurable; it gradually impairs our cognitive abilities to the point that we grapple with remembering everything from what we ate for breakfast, to who our parents are. Today, 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases are due to Alzheimer’s disease.

Consider Jay – a man who was diagnosed with the disease at the relatively young age of 46 (for most, Alzheimer’s doesn’t became apparent until age 65 or older). “For me, it’s like seeing someone that I love in quicksand,” says his wife, Laura, “and…I can’t reach him. I can’t get there. I see him slip a little further, and I can’t get to him.”

Findings conclude that excessive amounts of copper interfere with the health of the brain blood barrier in the test subjects (lab rats). Without a properly functioning blood barrier, the brain has a difficult time ridding itself of beta amyloid – a protein described as the “hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease” and is found in plaque formations around a dying brain. It’s still too early for researchers to draw more than a handful of tentative, ever-changing conclusions. But one thing is certain, says Dr. Rashid Deane, Ph.D. of the University of Rochester Medical Center, “Over time, the metal can accumulate in [brain] cells with toxic effect.”

Related Articles:

• Copper Identified as Culprit in Alzheimer’s Disease
• BBC News — Copper linked to Alzheimer’s disease
  
• The Alzheimer’s Association Wesbsite