Humans are not alone in ailing dementia. Scientist have found out that Bees suffer dementia compared to Alzheimer's caused by eating large amounts of aluminum.
As scientific study found high amounts of aluminum contamination in bees at levels that would cause brain damage in humans.
Since the Bees rely on their tiny brains to navigate to flowers to collect pollen and nectar to eat. this is may be causing their decline.
Researchers at University of Sussex collected pupae from colonies of naturally foraging bumblebees and sent them to Keele University where their aluminium content was determined.
Pesticide residues have been seen as one of the most significant causes of a decline in bee numbers.
But the researchers, whose work is published in the journal Public Library of Science One, suggest the possibility that this aluminium is also contributing to the decline.
Professor Chris Exley an expert on human exposure to aluminium, from Keele University said: 'It is widely accepted that a number of interacting factors are likely to be involved in the decline of bees and other pollinators – lack of flowers, attacks by parasites, and exposure to pesticide cocktails, for example.
'Aluminium is a known neurotoxin affecting behaviour in animal models of aluminium intoxication. Bees, of course, rely heavily on cognitive function in their everyday behaviour and these data raise the intriguing spectre that aluminium-induced cognitive dysfunction may play a role in their population decline – are we looking at bees with Alzheimer's disease?'.
The Alzheimer's society advise that although aluminium was linked initially with Alzheimer's disease in humans 'the link has not been proven despite continuing investigation'.
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