Learning About Alzheimer’s, part 2: What causes Alzheimer’s?

This post is part of a series by Linda Hitt Kempf, RN, LNHA about the latest research and help for patients and family members dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. Linda highly recommends the television series The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s as an excellent resource for learning about this disease. Read part 1 of this series here.

The Forgetting program shares insight into the possible causes of Alzheimer’s while offering specific advice about positive management techniques and prevention.

Current research into what causes Alzheimer’s points to…
…studies of plaques in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients. There’s also controversy regarding whether specific metal substances, particularly aluminum, cause damage to our brains. Our use of aluminum-containing products such as deodorant, some powders, canned foods and drinks, or aluminum cookware has increased over the past 40-50 years. Even some vitamin and mineral preparations can contain copper and other metals.

You may want to watch the entire series to see if you have concerns about your supplements. There is a section addressing the metal concerns, plaques in the brain, and other concerns about what we eat or drink.

The Forgetting DVD and book are available at shop.pbs.org, or you can call 1-800-ShopPBS.