Microplastics found in the brain could be linked to rise in Alzheimer’s cases

New research has shown a potential link between microplastics in the human brain and the global rise in Alzheimer’s disease. 

The University of New Mexico study, which has yet to be reviewed by other scientists, has shown that the highest concentration of microplastics was found in 12 brain samples from people that died with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers analysed microplastic concentrations in 51 liver, kidney, and brain samples collected in 2016 and 2024.

While particles could be found in all these organs, the brain samples showed the highest concentration, seven to 30 times more than liver or kidney samples.

12 brain samples from people that died with dementia or Alzheimer’s were shown to contain up to 10 times more plastic by weight than healthy samples, as reported in the New Lede.

While these early findings alone do not go far enough to prove that there is a link between microplastics in the brain and incidence of dementia or Alzheimer’s, they do suggest a need for further research.

As researchers stated in their report, the incidence of these diseases is rising across the globe. At the same time, the amount of plastic in brains has increased over 50 percent in the past eight years.

Previous studies in mice also linked nanoplastics (plastic particles that are even smaller than microplastics) in the brain to cognitive changes and other conditions of the brain.

A different study, published in the journal Science Advances in 2023, found that nanoplastics can interact with a protein called alpha-synuclein, which plays a role in nerve cell communication. 

It is said that these particles can bind tightly to alpha-synuclein, which can result in the formation toxic clumps similar to what is seen in Parkinson’s disease

‘It’s pretty alarming,’ Matthew Campen, toxicologist at the University of New Mexico and lead author of the study, told the New Lede. 

‘There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.’ 

The extent to which these particles, which are present in air, water, and food, affect human health is not fully understood yet.

According to a 2022 study published in the Lancet Public Health, Global dementia cases are on track to triple by 2050.

But more research is needed in order to explain the possible link microplastics to this trend, scientists have concluded.

This week, it emerged the ‘groundbreaking’ drug lecanemab will not be made available on the NHS because it’s too costly.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said the benefits of the medication are ‘just too small to justify the significant cost to the NHS’.

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