Beached East Coast Dolphins Show Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

Could the toxins in our oceans’ blue-green algae blooms—which have been increasing due to global warming—be a cause of Alzheimer’s disease?

University of Miami researchers who examined the brains of dolphins that had beached themselves in Massachusetts and Florida have published a new study that ponders this question. (No dolphins were killed for the study, thank goodness.)

Of the 14 dolphin brains they studied, 13 contained plaques of the protein beta amyloid, which has also been found in the brains of humans who died of Alzheimer’s disease. The dolphins’ brains also contained high levels of the algae toxin BMAA.

The researchers found that ongoing exposure to BMAA can lead to Alzheimer’s-like abnormal protein accumulations, called neurofibrillary tangles, in the brains of dolphins. These tangles cause brain cells to stop functioning and eventually die. The researchers are now looking into whether BMAA causes or accelerates these tangles.

https://www.care2.com/causes/beached-east-coast-dolphins-show-signs-of-alzheimers-disease.html