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For a balanced view on the role of aluminum, read Aluminium and Alzheimer's disease.

Most folks use pans to fry things, not pots... That said, doesn't aluminum typically have better heat distribution than steel or iron?

I think copper pots (or copper-based pans) are best. Iron holds heat very well, and doesn't distribute it much (useful in a wok), but is very heavy.

Aluminium is light, but aluminium ions have been linked to Alzheimer's disease... only now that I've checked that, it seems they haven't. Or maybe they have, depending who you believe (see Wikipedia). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookware_and_bakeware#Cookware_materials

Second... Oh... where to start...

For a prominent one, Terry Pratchett has early onset Alzheimer's but can't be put on medications for it because he's too young. That's bureaucrats overriding medical science. Socialized health care isn't interested in improving the quality of life. As a consequence, he will likely be taking his own life soon-- amusingly, in Switzerland. I guess assisted suicide isn't covered in the UK.

How about that the said drug is now actually recommended?
Or the fact that actually there were no limitations to the availability of the drug to anyone, as you could still pay for it yourself (only you'd have to pay the whole thing out of your pocket, or your private insurance's pocket), and particularly not to Pratchett who is a bloody millionaire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NICE#Cost_per_quality-adjusted_life_year_gained

He or she could opt to take the free NHS standard treatment, or he or she may decide to pay out of pocket to obtain the benefit of the new treatment from a different health care provider. If the person has a private health insurance policy the person could check to see whether the private insurance provider will fund the new treatment. About 8% of the population has some private health insurance from an employer or trade association and 2% pay from their own resources.

So that bullshit about him thinking of hopping over to Switzerland to kill himself BECAUSE the ebil soil-she-lized gubermint won't let him have his life saving pill... nice troll.
No... really. Lovely.
Not quite on the holocaust denier level, but close. And it has more charm.

Now... Unlike you, Pratchett is not in it for trolling.
He made the comments about the drug as he is concerned that, unlike him, there are actually people out there who can't afford the extra 2.5 pounds per day cost.
Interestingly, while the Aricept/Donepezil's "cash-and-carry" price is 800-1000 pounds per year in the UK (about 1500$), up until recently it cost twice as much in the USA.
While the high price has primarily to do with patents, I'll leave it to you to ponder how the same drug could cost twice as much in a country which has SIX times greater population (higher demand, ergo - should cost less) and only ~1.4 times greater purchasing parity GDP per capita.

Socialized health care isn't interested in improving the quality of life.

Funny you should phrase it like that.

See... the ACTUAL issue that caused Pratchett to speak out about the NHS policy on the said drug has EVERYTHING to do with improving the quality of life.

Problem is... How do you quantify something as immaterial as "quality of life"?
And remember, you must take in account that different people value different things differently.
And before you ask "Why should you quantify it at all? Isn't all life sacred and precious?" - take a million dollars and threat 100 people with that money. For a year.
But you have to give each one of them the same quality of life, regardless of the fact that they will be chosen completely randomly, just as their age, living conditions and illnesses will be completely random.
And you don't get to know in advance who's the next person coming through the door, or what is their illness, but all of them ARE life-threatening.

Oh and, since you love hyperbole so much - all the people you don't get to help will be considered murders.
Done by you. Personally.
As if you've taken an axe to each and everyone of them.
You sick fuck.

It looks like aluminum likely doesn't cause alzheimer's. There was also some evidence that high doses of zinc can cause problems.
On the other hand, a recent study suggests that too much zinc might be the problem. In this laboratory experiment, zinc caused beta amyloid from cerebrospinal fluid -- the fluid that bathes the brain -- to form clumps similar to the plaques of Alzheimer's disease.

My general rule of thumb is to stay physically active, eat well, and stay mentally sharp. Mega doses of whatever likely aren't going to help much.

Well, I was about to spout off on about how the aluminium content of tea was supposed to cause Alzheimer's, and that like, duh, coffee drinkers drink less tea.

Fortunately I Googled before I leapt and it sounds like aluminium (and hence tea) is moving out of the frame....

Still, you can see why people get bewildered by these announcements - especially when the refutations get less column inches than the initial shock! horror! claims.

Please cite a reference, since Google doesn't back you up.

National Institute of Health:

Epidemiological studies attempting to link AD with exposures in drinking water have been inconclusive and contradictory. Thus, the significance of increased aluminum intake with regard to onset of AD has not been determined.

Alzheimer's Society (UK):

The overwhelming medical and scientific opinion is that the findings outlined above do not convincingly demonstrate a causal relationship between aluminium and Alzheimer's disease, and that no useful medical or public health recommendations can be made, at least at present.

It appears the consensus from reputable sites is that we don't know, and there's no consistent correlation that's shown up in studies so far.

Baahh! I've lived through the years of Prohibition and haven't had a drink since then! I'm not demented like a monkey drinks on the first date of his bar mitvah. Why do people say I'm demented?

I know it isn't the answer you're looking for...

Drink more. Seriously; coffee has never been known to kill anyone, except possibly Honore De Balzac. It, without a doubt, makes you more lucid, and gives you the ability to carry on longer. It may even provide health benefits in that it may fight Colon Cancer and Alzheimer's. And in this job, a lot of us are sitting on our asses prime for feasting on candy and junk food; having a cup of coffee keeps my hand off the snacks, leaving me relatively thin.

A bonus if you like the taste as I do.

So yes, it is a vice. But considering all the other vices you could have, gluttony, smoking, gambling, sloth, excessive drinking, and so on, I figure coffee/caffiene addiction is pretty low on the totem pole.

Ok, heres some supporting evidence. You can follow my sources of research.

Source1

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source6 Warning Warnings

"Methylphenidate should not be used in children under 6 years of age, since safety and efficacy in this age group have not been established.

Although a causal relationship has not been established, suppression of growth (i.e. weight gain and/or height) has been reported with the long-term use of stimulants in children. Therefore, patients requiring long-term therapy should be carefully monitored. In addition, the use of "Drug Holidays" is recommended, that is, withholding the drug on weekends and during school holidays in as much as the clinical situation permits.

Methylphenidate should not be used for severe depression of either exogenous or endogenous origin. Clinical experience suggests that in psychotic children, administration of methylphenidate may exacerbate symptoms of behavior disturbance and thought disorder.

Methylphenidate should not be used for the prevention or treatment of normal fatigue states.
There is some clinical evidence that methylphenidate may lower the convulsive threshold in patients with prior history of seizures, with prior EEG abnormalities in absence of seizures and, very rarely, in patients with no prior EEG evidence nor history of seizures. Safe concomitant use of anticonvulsants and methylphenidate has not been established. In the presence of seizures, the drug should be discontinued. Use cautiously in patients with hypertension. Blood pressure should be monitored at appropriate intervals in all patients taking methylphenidate, especially those with hypertension."
source7a
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source9 Yet, "since the late 1990s, a spate of scientific research has begun to establish that adults do generate new brain cells in some regions of the brain, well into old age.

And now, for the first time, scientists have seen that new neurons become functional members of the brain, forging new connections and firing "action potentials" like any other neuron.

Although this latest discovery has only been observed in the brains of mice, the analogy to humans suggests that the rules of the card game have indeed changed. It also points toward new directions in potential therapies for neurological disorders or brain injuries."

Source10
"biologists at Princeton University have found that thousands of freshly born neurons arrive each day in the cerebral cortex, the outer rind of the brain where higher intellectual functions and personality are centered."

"Medicines are NOT some ultra-fast route to hyper-concentration OR intelligence. Nearly ANYBODY out there can concentrate on a task better than I can, if anything, taking pills would give THEM an unfair advantage, except that most of the medicines that work so well for ADHD sufferers end up doing something in between jack squat to the exact opposite of their ADHD treatment effects to non-ADHD sufferers."

This is wrong. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors work in non ADD persons as well as people with ADD. These work by simply preventing the wires in the brain from breaking down in the first place, or at least thats the easiest way I can explain it without getting too scientific.

This benefits everyone.
"Rather than using the neurotransmitters themselves as drugs, the approach has been to get more of these vital signal molecules released into the synapse, or to block the enzymes that break them down once they have done their job. Either way, you keep more neurotransmitters in the synapse for longer, improving communication between the cells. The more we learn about brain chemistry the more sophisticated such drugs become."
Source:How it works


"The damn stuff is chemically addictive, if I don't take my pills I literally fall asleep the entire day. Sucks.

If I do not take my Luvox at night my brain races along to fast for me to get to sleep. Ever. That right there is not even a chemical side effect, that is just ADHD in all its grandure, sure I have a brain possessing an IQ of 156, but getting sleep at night sure is a nice thing and that IQ of 156 doesn't want to go to bed at night with me, rather it would keep on ratteling off about whatever comes to mind (har har)."

Take your Luvox, I'm not worried about you being on Luvox, I'm worried about people like me on Luvox just to get an edge on me. My current IQ is 164(or in the 160s), not that it matters but imagine the advantage I'd have if I were on some pill to make me concentrate 100% on something?

You see the problem isnt you being on these pills, the problem is we live in a competitive world, I must get a better grade than you and everyone else no matter what, I must have a perfect GPA no matter what, and alot of people are willing to hide behind pills and a disability just to get an edge. You arent doing this, but alot of people are and they give YOU a bad name because they make it seem like you are hiding behind your pills and taking advantage of the system.