Lead exposure may age brains faster
1 min read
It’s been long suspected that besides genetics, there may be some environmental causes behind the rising numbers of Alzheimer’s cases in the industrialized world.
Johns Hopkins University is looking at exposure to lead as a factor that may possibly speed up the aging of the brain, even if that lead exposure happened decades earlier.
Dr. Brian Schwartz of Johns Hopkins says “The fact that it’s happening with lead is the first proof of principle that it’s possible,” said Schwartz, a leader in the study of lead’s delayed effects. Other pollutants like mercury and pesticides may do the same thing, he said.
