Alzheimer’s Risk Heightened Due To Pesticide DDT

For more than 40 years, the synthetic pesticide DDT has been known by scientists to be detrimental to bird habitats and a danger to the environment, according to a statement from Rutgers University. Now, a new study indicates that it could be dangerous to humans as well.

Exposure to DDT, which has been banned in the United States since 1972, may raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease, National Monitor reported.

The blood of late-onset Alzheimer's disease patients had higher levels of DDE, the chemical left when DDT breaks down, compared to those without the disease, a study published by JAMA Neurology revealed.

"I think these results demonstrate that more attention should be focused on potential environmental contributors and their interaction with genetic susceptibility," posits Jason R. Richardson, associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a member of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. "Our data may help identify those that are at risk for Alzheimer's disease and could potentially lead to earlier diagnosis and an improved outcome."

As the chemical takes decades to breakdown in the environment, the pesticide is still present even though levels of DDT and DDE have decreased significantly in the United States over the past 30 years, National Monitor reported.

Blood samples collected by the Center for Disease Control Prevention for a national health and nutrition survey show the toxic pesticide to be present in 75 to 80 percent of blood tests.

In the Rutgers study, 74 out of the 86 Alzheimer's patients involved had DDE blood levels nearly four times higher than the 79 people in the control group who did not have Alzheimer's disease.

According to National Monitor, "Patients with a version of ApoE gene, which significantly raises the risk of developing Alzheimer's, and high blood levels of DDE showed even more severe cognitive impairment than the patients without the risk gene."

Although the cause of Alzheimer's disease is unknown, a combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors may be associated with late-onset Alzheimer's, scientists claim.

"This study demonstrates that there are additional contributors to Alzheimer's disease that must be examined and that may help identify those at risk of developing Alzheimer's," Richardson said. "It is important because when it comes to diagnosing and treating this and other neurodegenerative diseases, the earlier someone is diagnosed, the more options there may be available."

Currently, five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's, National Monitor reported.

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