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http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=d906e2a5-7528-46c0-a667-8b0035f6721b

Potent toxin found in brains of dead Alzheimer's victims
Substance made by algae common in lakes, oceans

Margaret Munro
CanWest News Service

Saturday, April 23, 2005

A potent toxin produced by common algae has been found in the brains of nine Canadians who died of Alzheimer's disease.

The same neurotoxin has turned up in brain tissues taken from people in Guam who died of dementia, say researchers, who warn that chronic exposure to the algal toxins may pose a public health threat.

It "may now be prudent" to monitor drinking water and food for the toxin known as BMAA, short for beta-n-methylamino-L-alanine, an international team reports in the Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences this month.

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