Updated 6/1/2015
International Journal of Alzheimers Disease 2011: Link between Aluminum and the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease: The Integration of the Aluminum and Amyloid Cascade Hypotheses
“Whilst being environmentally abundant, aluminum is not essential for life. On the contrary, aluminum is a widely recognized neurotoxin that inhibits more than 200 biologically important functions and causes various adverse effects in plants, animals, and humans.”
Presentation on March 26, 2014 at International Symposium on Vaccines in Nice, France: A Role for the Pineal Gland in Neurological Damage Following Aluminum-adjuvanted Vaccination (Powerpoint Slides) (PDF Version) http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/SeneffNice2014.pdf
Pharmacology & Toxicology, 1992: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0773.1992.tb00471.x/abstract
“Aluminium is widely used as an adjuvant in human vaccines, and children can often receive up to 3.75 mg of parenteral aluminium during the first six months of life. We show that intraperitoneal injection of aluminium adsorbed vaccines into mice causes a transient rise in brain tissue aluminium levels peaking around the second and third day after injection. This rise is not seen in the saline control group of animals or with vaccine not containing aluminium. It is likely that aluminium is transported to the brain by the iron-binding protein transferrin and enters the brain via specific transferrin receptors.”
Toxicological Profile for Aluminum – US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (PDF)
Intestinal Absorption of Aluminum – see: http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/suppl_2/13.full.pdf
“No known physiologic need exists for aluminum; however, because of its atomic size and electric charge (0.051 nm and 3+, respectively), it is sometimes a competitive inhibitor of several essential elements of similar characteristics, such as magnesium (0.066 nm, 2+), calcium (0.099 nm, 2+), and iron (0.064 nm, 3+). At physiological pH, aluminum forms a barely soluble Al(OH)3 that can be easily dissolved by minor changes in the acidity of the media.[2]
Approximately 95% of an aluminum load becomes bound to transferrin and albumin intravascularly and is then eliminated renally. In healthy subjects, only 0.3% of orally administered aluminum is absorbed via the GI tract and the kidneys effectively eliminate aluminum from the human body. It is only when the GI barrier is bypassed, such as intravenous infusion or in the presence of advanced renal dysfunction, that aluminum has the potential to accumulate. As an example, with intravenously infused aluminum, 40% is retained in adults and up to 75% is retained in neonates.[4]” – http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/165315-overview
Study from Canada in April 2013 Cell Biology & Toxicology:
How aluminum, an intracellular ROS generator promotes hepatic and neurological diseases: the metabolic tale http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10565-013-9239-0
“Metal pollutants are a global health risk due to their ability to contribute to a variety of diseases. Aluminum (Al), a ubiquitous environmental contaminant is implicated in anemia, osteomalacia, hepatic disorder, and neurological disorder. In this review, we outline how this intracellular generator of reactive oxygen species (ROS) triggers a metabolic shift towards lipogenesis in astrocytes and hepatocytes. This Al-evoked phenomenon is coupled to diminished mitochondrial activity, anerobiosis, and the channeling of α-ketoacids towards anti-oxidant defense. The resulting metabolic reconfiguration leads to fat accumulation and a reduction in ATP synthesis, characteristics that are common to numerous medical disorders. Hence, the ability of Al toxicity to create an oxidative environment promotes dysfunctional metabolic processes in astrocytes and hepatocytes. These molecular events triggered by Al-induced ROS production are the potential mediators of brain and liver disorders.”
ALUMUNIUM MEDIATED OXIDATIVE STRESS: POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP TO COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT OF ALZHEIMERS TYPE, Annals of Neurosciences, Vol 13, No 1 (2006)
1953: Alum causes Epilepsy in the Monkey Following Multiple Intracerebral Injections (Bull N Y Acad Med.)
1994 STUDY: Internal load of aluminum suggested “disturbing effects” on short-term memory, learning, and attention. – Read more here.
Photo credit: Vaccine “Education” Center – Children’s Hospital of PA.
July 10, 2013
According to the CDC, aluminum gels or salts of aluminum are added as adjuvants to “help promote an earlier, more potent response, and more persistent immune response to the vaccine.” CDC then links us to a “What you Need to Know” document from the Vaccine Education Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia which aims to assure the reader that aluminum is perfectly safe, comparable even to breastfeeding your baby.
These claims of perfect safety are at odds with current research on the subject.
Firstly, aluminum is a known neurotoxin. In 2011, Masahiro Kawahara and Midori Kato-Negishi wrote in the International Journal of Neurotoxicology that,
“…it is widely accepted that Al is a recognized neurotoxin, and that it could cause cognitive deficiency and dementia when it enters the brain and may have various adverse effects on CNS. In general, the absorption of metals by the gastrointestinal tract is widely variable and is influenced by various factors including an individual difference, age, pH, stomach contents [173]. Recent studies using mass spectrometry of 26Al have demonstrated that small, but a considerable amount of Al crosses the blood brain barrier, enters into the brain, and accumulates in a semipermanent manner [174, 175]. Therefore, Al can cause severe health problems in particular populations, including infants, elderly people, and patients with impaired renal functions, and unnecessary exposure to Al should be avoided for such patients [176].Now, newly published research by Keele Conference scientists shows that aluminum adjuvant in vaccines transfers to the brain. Intramuscular injection of alum-containing vaccine was associated with the appearance of aluminum deposits in distant organs, such as spleen and brain where they were still detected one year after injection.” (page 14)
Secondly, recent research suggests that aluminum is linked to neurotoxicity and even dementia (Immunologic Research, online April 23, 2013). Aluminum is found in higher concentrations in the brains of Alzheimers patients (Journal of Alzheimers Disease, online, Jan. 1, 2013). There is growing concern that aluminum is involved in the development of Alzheimer’s (Clinical Biochemistry, Jan. 2013).
The path of aluminum adjuvant from injection site to the brain was documented in a mouse model this year (see: “Slow CCL2-dependent translocation of biopersistent particles from muscle to brain.” – and Read more in this article by Heidi Stevenson.
Sayer Ji wrote, “Can We Continue To Justify Injecting Aluminum Into Children?” which is also an essential read on this subject.
*Photo Credit / See also:
“Aluminum in hippocampal neurons from humans with Alzheimer’s disease.”