Tiny magnetic iron crystals in the brain may be linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, suggests preliminary research.



If further work confirms the hypothesis, it could be possible to diagnose patients with early Alzheimer’s disease by measuring the level of iron oxide crystals, called magnetite, in their brains.



Jon Dobson at the University of Keele, UK, and his colleagues examined six brain samples and found that magnetite levels increased with Alzheimer’s disease severity, the first time such a link has been shown. “If the data continues to go this way, the implications are quite profound.”
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