As dementia cases continue to rise in the United States, new research from the University of Michigan School of Public Health reveals that older Americans with cumulative lead exposure face a substantially higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

“This is the first empirical study to demonstrate that 18% of new dementia cases in the United States each year may be linked to cumulative lead exposure,” said Kelly Bakulski, associate professor of Epidemiology at Michigan Public Health and one of the study’s senior authors. “With approximately half a million Americans diagnosed with dementia annually, this translates to nearly 90,000 cases that could potentially be prevented—a truly significant figure.”

The study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, found that individuals with the highest quarter of bone lead levels had nearly three times (2.96) the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and more than twice (2.15) the risk of all-cause dementia compared to those in the lowest quarter.

The findings highlight cumulative lead exposure as an important, and often overlooked, environmental risk factor for dementia.

… https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.71075