Drinking mineral water can prevent memory loss in Alzheimer's

British researchers found drinking silicon-rich mineral water 'significantly reduced' the levels of neurotoxin aluminium in the body.

Previous research has found that the presence of aluminium was linked to the plaques and tangles - two kinds of microscopic damage - in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

Patients who took part in the new study drank a litre of mineral water every day for 13 weeks - and the majority showed no further signs of cognitive decline, the Daily Mail reported.

One patient saw the amount of aluminium in his body drop by 70 per cent and three participants actually showed an improvement in their mental health, the study said.

Professor Christopher Exley, of Keele University, who led the research, said the 'surprising' results gave hope to findings ways to combat the devastating disease.

"There were two parts to our research. The first is that drinking silicon water does remove aluminium from the body. When you drink silicon-rich mineral water aluminium throughout the body is gathered up into the blood and then excreted through the urine," Exley said.

"It seems to purge the aluminium from the body. We now know we can use this silicon-rich "therapy" water to reduce aluminium," Exley was quoted by saying as the paper.

"The second part of our research was looking at the cognitive abilities of people with Alzheimer's and whether these changed as the aluminium was reduced," Exley said.

"We saw improvement in some cases, cognitive function remained the same in others and it did decrease in others," Exley added.

Researchers examined the aluminium levels of 15 sufferers and their carers or partners - 15 women and 15 men in total.

The brand of water used in the study was a Malaysian water called 'Spritzer', which has high levels of the chemical element silicon.

Scientists asked the participants to drink a litre of Spritzer water every day for 13 weeks and measured their aluminium levels at the end.

The patients saw a huge reduction in their aluminium levels, with a number showing drops of 50, 60 and 70 per cent.

Participants were also assessed using the ADAS-Cog (Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive) method, which is a recognised 11-part test.

The tests include memory questions and 'simple' tasks such as drawing a clock face.

After 13 weeks, cognitive function is eight of the 15 Alzheimer's sufferers had not deteriorated - and actually improved 'substantially' in three.

The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Volume.