The researchers at the University of Michigan learned that old copper water pipes used in households lead to amassing of the metal in human body, thus creating various health problems early in life and becoming fatal as one crosses 50.
The study revealed that copper and iron may be vital when one is young, but with age the body cannot deal with such elements effectively. Therefore, people are advised to donate blood frequently to cut iron levels, and take additional zinc to bring down copper levels in the body.
Details of the study
The research team conducted the study on mice, and found that copper contents in body could have severe consequences.
“Their toxicities are so general in the population that they are a looming public health problem in diseases of ageing and in the ageing process itself,” said lead researcher Dr. George Brewer.
The team established that for the progression of life, body requires a stock of copper and iron, particularly in the reproductive years.
“But the oxidant damage from these excess stores of metals builds up as we age, and natural selection ceases to act after about age 50 since diseases after that do not contribute to reproductive fitness,” said Brewer.
The team has thus cautioned against water consumption from such pipes for a continued period, to prevent not only Alzheimer’s but various heart problems and disease, like diabetes, that occur with age.
The study appears in the American Chemical Society’s Toxicology journal.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease or Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT) is the most common form of dementia or cognitive disorder that leads to degeneration of thought processes.
Alzheimer’s is an incurable and terminal disease that often leads to death of the patient as age progresses.
As the disease expands, it causes language breakdown and long-term memory loss in the patient. It may also lead to confusion, irritability, aggression and mood swings.
Though the root and succession of Alzheimer’s is not very well known, research points out that the disease is linked to the plaques--deposits outside the nerve cell--and tangles--protein aggregates in the nerve cells in the brain.
Varied studies suggest that life expectancy after Alzheimer’s diagnosis is roughly seven years, and less than three percent of patients survive for about 14 years following diagnosis.
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