From: sbarnhar@mailbox.mail.umn.edu (Dr. Barnhart)
Subject: Aluminum cookware:  Summary
Followup-To: misc.consumers
Organization: U of Mn Propoganda Ministry
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 19:19:23 GMT

I recieved several replies to my posting on the "hazards" of aluminum
cookware.  Nearly everyone who replied said the same thing:  High
concentrations of aluminum were found in the brains of Alzheimer's
patients, although this doesn't mean that aluminum caused the Alzheimer's. 
Rather the reverse may be true, the Alzheimers may have caused the high
aluminum concentrations.  Cruising through the network I found the
following article, which indicates that the experiments themselves may have
contaminated the tissue.

One person did seem to indicate that it was a problem and went on to try to
sell me some kind of EcoHealth product that would cleanse my body, so I
took that one with a grain of sodium free salt.

The article in question appears below.

Thanks to all who replied.  I'll eat easier.  :)

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From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Subject: Study disputes aluminum-Alzheimer's link Keywords: health,
research, science, general ethnic, special interest ACategory: washington

     WASHINGTON (UPI) -- British researchers have disputed previous reports
linking aluminum to Alzheimer's disease.
     University of Oxford researchers reported Wednesday that previous
evidence connecting aluminum to Alzheimer's may have been due to
contamination of tissue samples with aluminum from dust in the air and
chemical preparations of the samples.
     ``The most direct evidence for the link between aluminum and
Alzheimer's disease stems from reports of (aluminum traces) found in
(brain tissue samples),'' wrote Dr. Frank Watt and his colleagues in the
journal Nature.
     Using a highly sensitive technique known as nuclear microscopy, Watt
and his colleagues analyzed 105 samples of brain tissue from five
Alzheimer's patients and two healthy people.
     The researchers found evidence that the samples were contaminated with
aluminum from chemicals used to prepare the samples, which could account
for the previous findings.
     ``Aluminum and silicon were...detected in the background and in the
control tissue, and indicate that there is a possibility of
contamination,'' they said.
     Accordingly, the researchers tested an additional 80 tissue samples
from four Alzheimer's patients and two healthy people that were prepared
without chemical stains and found ``that aluminum was not observed in any
of the (samples) scanned.
     ``Because analysis of unstained (Alzheimer's disease) tissue using the
sensitive techniques of nuclear miscroscopy does not indicate increased
levels of aluminum in (brain tissue), we now believe that previous evidence
that aluminum is involved in...Alzheimer's disease should be reviewed to
take into account the probable contamination of tissue by alumino-silicates
present in most reagents,'' they said.
     Between 2 million and 4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's
disease, a devastating disease that inexorably destroys the mind. There is
no treatment.

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Shawn Barnhart ! sbarnhar@mailbox.mail.umn.edu
I'm not selling out, I'm buying in.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers