IUBio

Copper & Alzheimer's Disease

rsymes rsymes at dodo.com.au
Tue Sep 2 18:16:45 EST 2003



tintinet wrote:

> rsymes <rsymes at dodo.com.au> wrote in message news:<3F5402CD.7B6B1F64 at dodo.com.au>...
> > Everyone seems concerned about limiting their copper intake by drinking distilled
> > water but I think its more sensible to cut down on the cholesterol intake.
>
> Cholesterol is a substance one's body makes for itself. Just cutting
> down or eliminating sources of cholesterol in one's food will not
> necessarily produce low levels in one's body.
>

There are two forms of cholesterol one of which is beneficial in the human body and the
other which is dangerous. The dangerous type accumulates in the body through consumption
of animal products. If a person eats large quatities of fatty foods then they will put
themselves at risk of high cholesterol.
I'm not saying the simple answer is to watch what we eat since high cholesterol level can
result from other factors but poor diet is a leading cause.



>
>  When the
> > body is overloaded by any particular chemical, either organic or inorganic, it can
> > result in problems which may be compounded by a second chemical. Take the once
> > popular solvent carbon tetrachloride use by dry cleaners. If you drank alcohol
> > after using this solvent you could die very soon after due to the interaction with
> > the alcohol. The same quanity of alcohol without exposure to the solvent would be
> > harmless. Which of the two is it better to avoid exposure to?
> > Thats an extreme example but going back to copper, its not just in water, its in
> > many foods. Most of the common nuts like pecans, hazel nuts and walnuts contains
> > 1-1.3 mg Cu per 100g and brazil nuts contain up to 2.3 mg per 100g.
> > Considering copper consumption is unavoidable and in fact a requirement for
> > metabolism of iron, development of red blood cells plus a host of other things, its
> > seems to me that its the cholesterol which is the problem.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Ian Goddard wrote:
> >
> > > Copper link to Alzheimer's disease:
> > > http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994045
> > >
> > > The abstract:
> > > http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/1832769100v1
> > >
> > > Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.1832769100
> > >
> > > Trace amounts of copper in water induce beta-amyloid plaques and
> > > learning deficits in a rabbit model of Alzheimer's disease
> > >
> > > [authors and affiliations cut for brevity, see link above]
> > >
> > > Despite the crucial role played by cholesterol and copper in nutrition
> > > and normal brain function, recent evidence indicates that they may
> > > both be important factors in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
> > > Here we provide critical evidence for the role of cholesterol and
> > > copper in AD by showing that the addition of trace amounts of copper
> > > (0.12 ppm) to water given to cholesterol-fed rabbits can induce
> > > beta-amyloid (Abeta) accumulation, including senile plaque-like
> > > structures in the hippocampus and temporal lobe, and can significantly
> > > retard the ability of rabbits to learn a difficult trace conditioning
> > > task. The Abeta deposits do not affect the ability of rabbits to
> > > detect or respond to the training stimuli nor to learn a simpler delay
> > > conditioning task. Trace amounts of copper in drinking water may
> > > influence clearance of Abeta from the brain at the level of the
> > > interface between the blood and cerebrovasculature and combined with
> > > high cholesterol may be a key component to the accumulation of Abeta
> > > in the brain, having a significant impact on learning and memory.
> > > Cholesterol-fed rabbits have at least 12 pathological markers seen in
> > > AD, suggesting that the cholesterol-fed rabbit is a good animal model
> > > for studying AD.
> > >
> > > >  Also see:
> > > >
> > > >  Aluminum and Alzheimer's disease:
> > > >http://www.google.com/groups?selm=gq8havshkhetd6s78ctbgvc8iev0gtma1n%404ax.com
> > > >
> > > >  Iron and Alzheimer's disease:
> > > >http://www.google.com/groups?selm=bhfmiv867s916mglu8ioerf60ninn8b2hs%404ax.com
> > > >
> > > >  Mercury and Alzheimer's disease:
> > > >http://www.google.com/groups?selm=3af37029.2307577%40news.erols.com
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >  http://IanGoddard.net/journal.htm
> > > >
> > > >  "To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals." Ben Franklin
> > > >
> > > >  Ongoing CR-monkey-study update: "In the monkeys...those on
> > > >  reduced feeding since the study started are dying at a rate
> > > >  that is about half that of the monkeys receiving a full food
> > > >  ration." Associated Press: Eating less may extend human life.
> > > >  August 1, 2002 : http://www.msnbc.com/news/788746.asp?0si=-
> > > >
> > > >




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