Hair and serum copper, zinc, calcium, and magnesium concentrations in Alzheimer-type dementia.

Several research groups have reported alterations in mineral concentrations in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). A study of serum copper, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and albumin concentrations in outpatients with Alzheimer's disease (in the early-to-middle stages) and in these patients' healthy spouses is reported. Hair concentrations of copper, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and manganese were also measured in these AD patients and controls. No differences in serum of hair concentrations were found, and determinations of these hair and serum mineral concentrations do not appear to be of use in the diagnosis of AD. Significant positive correlations were found between age and hair manganese (Mn) in the control spouses, and a similar (but statistically nonsignificant) trend in the AD patients.