Failure to find a relationship between mnestic skills of octogenarians and aluminum in drinking water

Summary High concentrations of aluminum (>80 g/l) in drinking water have been related to an elevated incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Mnestic and naming skills of residents living for >15 years in districts with high (98 g/l) or low (4 g/l) aluminum concentrations Al] in the drinking water were evaluated in a population survey by examining 800 residents aged 81 to 85 using the mnestic subtest of the Mini Mental Status test (Zurich variant). The mnestic and naming performance of the octogenarians did not differ between the high- and low-content-areas. Since 73% of dementias are at least partly caused by Alzheimer's disease in the area examined and because the short test used discriminates demented from healthy octagenarians as well as tests involving extensive examinations, the findings of this study suggest with a high probability that the Al] of drinking water is not an essential factor in the pathogenesis of senile dementia. The serum Al] the urinary Al] and the urinary Al]/creatinine ratio were measured twice in ten clinically diagnosed Alzheimer patients and ten controls in both areas. No significant difference was found, which confirms the negative epidemiological findings.Parts of this study were presented at the joint meeting of the Swedish and Swiss Neurological Association in Interlaken, Switzerland, on May 22, 1990