Children exposed to lead in old paint, Victorian water pipes and unsafe toys could be at risk of Alzheimer’s later in life, scientists have said. A study shows that even small amounts of the dangerous metal in the first few years can cause changes in the brain associated with the devastating disease. Although lead has […]

Nasser Zawia, a URI professor of biomedical sciences at the College of Pharmacy led the three-year study, which involved four institutions.“This is the first evidence of promotion of Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology in a primate by an environmental agent,” Zawia said. “It is relevant because monkeys have identical genes to humans.”

Lead poisoning in infancy may make Alzheimer’s disease more likely decades later, a new study shows. Lead poisoning is a well-known danger, especially for young children. Months or years of lead poisoning can stunt children’s growth and damage their brain, kidneys, hearing, and mental development. Early lead poisoning may also tinker with genes in a […]

Early exposure to environmental toxins can lead to diseases much later in life. This week, Wu et al. report that primates exposed to lead as infants showed Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-like pathology years later. From birth to 400 d of age, monkeys were exposed to lead levels that produced no obvious sign of toxicity. Although by […]