New studies about lead exposure are raising more questions than answers about dementia and brain decline  in aging adults.

Some scientists believe earlier lead exposure  from perhaps decades before is one of the main culprits for the destruction of brain cells in older people.  

 That means if you or your parents were exposed to doses of lead your brain has probably coped with the damage by relying on its reserves.  As more cells are lost with natural aging the brain no longer has these reserves to fall back on. This explains why the damage is really not detected until much later in life.

Scientists are getting their measurements for prolonged lead from the shin bone which they believe is the best way to gage how much lead is actually in the body and how long it has been there.

That’s a different approach from the past beliefs that most lead damage occurs in the blood stream.  

Could it  be true that lead is the cause of dementia in aging adults? No one knows, but it could be one of the causes.

There is still much work to be done in lead research but the theory seems plausible.

Read  Lead Exposure May Hasten Aging’s Toll 

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