Pilot Studies for in Vivo Bone Aluminum Measurements

The topic of aluminum and its interaction with humans is becoming an increasingly important issue. Aluminum has a low absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, which naturally protects the body against its neurotoxic effects. However, excessive aluminum intake has been linked to several diseases. In renal dialysis patients, aluminum present in the hemodialysis fluid, and in their medication, can cause dialysis encephalopathy syndrome and osteodystrophy1. Alzheimer’s disease has also been associated with aluminum, due to both the findings in the brains of patients stricken with the disease2 and studies showing an increased risk of AD in geographical regions having an elevated concentration of aluminum in drinking water3. Since a causality relation has not been demonstrated, this link remains uncertain. A third category of people to whom aluminum toxicity is a concern is a group of gold and uranium miners working in northern Ontario between the years 1944 to 1979. These miners were exposed to an aluminum wrosol daily, before entering the mine shafts, as a form of preventative medicine. Aluminum was thought to act as a prophylactic agent, protecting the miners against silicosis of the lungs. A recent survey showed that, although no neurological disease was discernible, the miners did perform less well on cognitive-state tests than a control group4.