A new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, examined the relationship between copper levels and incidence of the sporadic form of Alzheimer’s.  Copper plays an important role in regulating the blood-brain barrier, but increased levels of copper in aging brain vessels show a level of copper that is potentially neurotoxic. Low levels of copper production can also be detrimental with neuroinflammatory effects.  This study also saw a potential link between the severity of Alzheimer’s disease and copper levels.

In an analysis of the study, the BBC News states that the study used mice to determine the effects of copper.  The mice were given water with higher levels of copper, which interfered with the manner in which the blood-brain barrier functioned.  As a result, these mice had higher levels of beta amyloid, a protein that forms plaques in the brain that are characteristic of a brain of someone that dies from Alzheimer’s.  In addition, higher levels of copper can cause more of the protein to be produced, exacerbating the problem.

This study is not wholly supported in the literature.  The BBC News goes on to state that another study came to the opposite conclusion finding a link between lower levels of copper and risk of developing Alzheimer’s.  That study, published in 2012 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, found a significant relationship between the higher levels of copper in the brain and lower incidence of the brain characteristics associated with Alzheimer’s.  Contradicting the findings of the new study as they relate to the detriment of higher levels of copper, this study and the new study both show that copper levels have some impact on risk for Alzheimer’s.  Further research is necessary to determine the nature and extent of that relationship, as well as the specific mechanisms involved.

Alzheimer’s is the most common source of dementia, which WebMD describes as a loss of mental capacity that is significant enough to interfere with daily functioning.  Dementia is actually a group of symptoms, not a disease on its own.  It is caused by an underlying disease or condition.  Alzheimer’s disease is the cause of more than half of all dementia cases.  WebMD reports that Alzheimer’s is often difficult to diagnose because many of the early symptoms are often accepted as routine and inevitable consequences of aging.  There are some precursor conditions as well as symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s that can be treated, making early detection imperative.