The so-called aluminum hypothesis for the cause of Alzheimer's disease dates back to

1965 when the inadvertent injection of aluminum into the brains of rabbits caused neurological symptoms

along with what initially looked like

Alzheimer's disease tangles in the brain. Then, the 1970s was first reported that the

aluminum content of Alzheimer's brains was higher than that of control brains on autopsy. Following

that, there was a rash of fatal dementia cases attributed to dialysis fluids

contaminated with aluminum.

This trio of findings led researchers to suggest that aluminum, the third most abundant

element on Earth after oxygen and silicon, may play a role in the development of Alzheimer's

disease.

The first crack in the theory was the realization that, upon closer inspection, the

tangle-like changes in rabbit brains were not much like those found in human Alzheimer's

disease, after all.

The changes in aluminum-induced dialysis and cephalopsy were also dissimilar.

Aluminum could certainly be toxic to the brain, but not necessarily in a way that had

anything to do with Alzheimer's disease.

And subsequent autopsy studies of Alzheimer's victims did not consistently find higher

aluminum levels, and even if they did, elevations in brain aluminum could be a consequence

rather than a cause,

reflecting Alzheimer's disease damage to the blood-brain barrier.

The aluminum hypothesis came under heavy fire in the scientific community.

Only later did we learn that the most vocal critics were secretly paid aluminum industry hacks.

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