Researchers in the US have suggested a link to Alzheimer's and the once widely used pesticide, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).
A study published by JAMA Neurology found that people suffering with the debilitating brain disease had up to four times the levels of DDT than non-suffers.
The BBC reports that a team at Emory University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center tested 86 people with Alzheimer's disease comparing the results with 79 healthy people of a similar age and background. The results showed those suffering with Alzheimer's had 3.8 times the level of DDE (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene).
DDT eventually is broken down into DDE.
Dementia facts for the UK:
- There are currently 800,000 people with dementia.
- There are over 17,000 younger people with dementia.
- There are over 25,000 people with dementia from ethnic groups.
- There will be over a million people with dementia by 2021.
- Two thirds of people with dementia are women.
- One third of people over 95 have dementia.
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