Biochemical mystery unfolds as elemental metals found in Alzheimer’s patients’ brains

Good news! I am very hopeful optimistic that a cure will be available before I reach the average age of late onset variety of Alzheimer's (around mid 60s). This latest research discovery is probably a bit premature as it was only confirmed for two deceased patients.

"... ‘These metal forms haven’t been seen in human biology before,’ says Neil Telling from Keele University in the UK, who led the study. ‘We’re seeing something beyond what we understand regarding the biochemical world.’ ...
Using synchrotron-based scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM), Telling’s team observed elemental copper and iron in the cores of amyloid plaques taken from two deceased Alzheimer’s patients. ...
Determining the chemical pathway responsible for these elemental metals is crucial for understanding their role in disease and potential drug targets ..."

"... Here, we report the discovery of elemental (zero–oxidation state) metallic Cu0 accompanying ferromagnetic elemental Fe0 in the human brain. These nanoscale biometal deposits were identified within amyloid plaque cores isolated from Alzheimer’s disease subjects, using synchrotron x-ray spectromicroscopy. The surfaces of nanodeposits of metallic copper and iron are highly reactive, with distinctly different chemical and magnetic properties from their predominant oxide counterparts. The discovery of metals in their elemental form in the brain raises new questions regarding their generation and their role in neurochemistry, neurobiology, and the etiology of neurodegenerative disease."

Biochemical mystery unfolds as elemental metals found in Alzheimer’s patients’ brains | Research | Chemistry World The presence of elemental iron and copper embedded in brain samples of Alzheimer’s patients is an unexpected twist on known human biochemistry. 

Here is the link to the underlying research article:

Biogenic metallic elements in the human brain? (open access)