Infection with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease: In people over the age of 50, the risk following a symptomatic infection can be an average of 11 percent higher, and even more about ten years after the infection, at 24 percent greater risk.
Infection with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease: In people over the age of 50, the risk following a symptomatic infection can be an average of 11 percent higher, and even more about ten years after the infection, at 24 percent greater risk. These are the findings of a study by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and McGill University (Canada), now published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.* The researchers analyzed three decades’ worth of patient data.
As today’s populations age, dementia is set to become more common, tripling in prevalence in the next 40 years. With no cure in sight so far, researchers are trying to pinpoint the risk factors involved in dementia, in hopes of specifically targeting those factors.
Helicobacter Pylori Enters the Central Nervous System
Researchers have long suspected Helicobacter pylori, a common gut microbe, of being a potential risk factor. Nearly one-third of all people in Germany are infected with this type of bacteria. An infection can be asymptomatic, but the bacteria can also cause inflammation of the stomach lining or even stomach cancer. Numerous lab studies have also found a link between H. pylori infection and the central nervous system. “We know that the bacterium can reach the brain via various routes, potentially causing inflammation, damage, and the destruction of neurons there,” explains Prof. Antonios Douros, a pharmacoepidemiologist at Charité and the first author of the study. When the stomach has been damaged by these microbes, it is also no longer able to absorb Vitamin B12 or iron effectively, which also increases the risk of dementia.
Read more at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
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