Copper

Copper and Alzheimer’s disease:

In a placebo controlled study, over placebo, zinc given to zinc deficient elderly patients age 70 and older at a dose of 150 mg oral daily (unknown zinc formula) resulted in protection from cognitive decline for 6 months after assessed by three different scoring methods including the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subsection (ADAS-Cog), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB), and the mini–mental state examination (MMSE) scores. The results were statistically significant for the ADAS-Cog and CDR-SOB scores, but not for the MMSE scores. Zinc levels in the Alzheimer’s patients were found to be about 8% lower than age-matched controls and about 24% lower than young adults on average. Copper is believed by the authors of the study to oxidize molecules which become toxic to neurons. The protection in cognitive decline by the zinc supplement was believed to be either restoration of neuronal zinc levels or reduction in serum copper levels by the zinc supplement or both. (2)