This element’s natural abundance, geological tendency to exist in its native state, and malleability made it one of the first parts of our environment that we began to harness.¹ From it, we’ve smithed cups and bowls to feed our children, knives to cut the food we give them, and nails to hold together the rooves over their heads.

It's been called “aes Cyprium²,” “berenj³,” and “kupros⁴,” but today we call it copper, and despite everything we’ve learned about it and how long we’ve relied on it, a debate about its safety has come to light.

Copper in Medicine

In the modern era, copper has long been considered an essential element in the body’s self-regulation and defense. It functions in metabolism, oxidation protection, and even uptake of other metals, like iron. The longer we live, the more our cognitive functions decline, and new studies are discovering that it may support brain health in unexpected ways, providing a much-needed companion to our ever-increasing lifespans.

Copper and Alzheimer’s / Dementia

A recent study (retrospective from 2011 to 2024) analyzed a large group of “older” adult patients (n=2420), monitoring their daily dietary copper, then grouping them in quartiles by increasing intake. All groups were then subjected to a battery of cognitive tests: the Digital Symbol Substitution Test, the Animal Fluency Test, a Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease subtest, and global cognition Z score.⁶ Multivariate regression analysis revealed a direct association between increasing copper intake and increasing cognition scores. The inflection point for the relationship varied from 1.22-1.63mg/day among the four tests, but the researchers stated that further study was needed to substantiate the findings.

However, in years past, a handful of studies indicated that copper intake could play a causative, rather than curative role in cognitive decline. A recent literature review looked at the potential relationship between the (largely unknown) etiology of Alzheimer’s and copper. The review spanned ten years, included both sexes, and considered late-onset Alzheimer’s only. “The results showed higher Cu concentrations in patients compared to healthy controls.”⁷ 

The apparent contradiction between studies is puzzling until one considers the inflection points in the first study. Though the points themselves varied somewhat by test, inflection always occurred, i.e., there is a point at which increasing copper no longer increased cognitive performance. But this is reasonable, and to be expected from our modern understanding of the human body’s needs—be it exercise, protein, or vitamin K, every physiologically beneficial thing can become detrimental if taken to excess.

Copper is an essential nutrient, that much is sure. Most such elements exist in our lives in appropriately trace amounts, but when one of them (copper) is used as piping to carry drinking water throughout a large percentage of first world homes, the risk must be fully researched and understood.

Transonic exists because of our concern for world health, so we issue this blog as a call for further research into the link between Alzheimer’s/dementia and copper; and as always, we thank you for reading.

References:

1. Copper - Wikipedia
2. Copper History: Copper through the Ages
3. COPPER i. In Islamic Persia - Encyclopaedia Iranica
4. Copper Word Origin: Etymology, Origin and Meaning
5. Brain health: Right amount of copper in diet may be beneficial
6. Association between dietary copper intake and cognitive function in American older adults: NHANES 2011–2014 | Scientific Reports
7. The Role of Copper in Alzheimer’s Disease Etiopathogenesis: An Updated Systematic Review - PMC