Nose-Picking May Have a Surprise Link With Alzheimer’s, Study in Mice Suggests
Scientists think there is a weak but plausible hypothetical link between picking your nose and an increased risk of developing dementia.
Where picking your nose causes internal tissue damage, critical types of bacteria have a clearer path to the brain and respond to their presence in ways that resemble signs of danger. Alzheimer’s illness.
There are plenty of caveats here; The most important of these is that the supporting research so far has been done in mice rather than humans.
But the findings are certainly worth further study and could improve our understanding of how Alzheimer’s disease begins.
In 2022, a team of researchers led by scientists from Griffith University in Australia published their work on tests with a bacterium called . Chlamydia pneumoniaecan be transmitted to humans and cause lung inflammation.
pneumoniae to have also discovered in most human brains affected by late-onset dementia.
The video below includes a summary of the study’s findings:
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It has been shown that in mice bacteria can travel towards the olfactory nerve (which connects the nasal cavity to the brain).
What’s more, nerve infections were made worse when damage occurred to the nasal epithelium (the thin tissue that lines the roof of the nasal cavity).
This led the mouse brains to accumulate more of the amyloid-beta protein, a protein released in response to infections.
Plaques (or clusters) of this protein are also found in significant concentrations. people with Alzheimer’s disease.
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“We are the first to show this” Chlamydia pneumoniae “It can travel directly from the nose to the brain, where it can trigger pathologies that resemble Alzheimer’s disease.” said neuroscientist James St John from Griffith University in Australia when the study was published.
“We saw this happen in a mouse model, and the evidence is potentially frightening for humans as well.”
Scientists were surprised by this speed pneumoniae settled in the central nervous system of mice, and infection occurred within 24 to 72 hours. bacteria and viruses Think of the nose as a fast track to the brain.
Although it is not certain that the effects will be the same in humans or even Amyloid-beta plaques are a cause of Alzheimer’sHowever, it is important to follow promising leads in the fight to understand this common neurodegenerative condition.
“We need to do this study in humans and confirm whether the same pathway works in the same way.” said St. John.
“This is research that has been suggested by many people but has not yet been completed. We know that the same bacteria are found in humans, but we have not yet figured out how they get there.”
Nose picking is not uncommon. Actually it is possible About 9 out of 10 people do… not to mention many other genres (some are a little more skillful from others).
Although the benefits are unclear, studies like this should give us pause before making a choice.
Future studies on the same processes in humans are planned; But until then, St John and colleagues suggest that picking your nose and pulling out your nose hairs is “not a good idea” because of the potential damage it could do to protective nasal tissue.
“We don’t want to damage the inside of our nose, and picking and picking can do that.” warned St John.
“If you damage the nasal lining, you can increase how many bacteria can get into your brain.”
One of the important questions the team will try to answer is whether increased amyloid-beta protein deposits are a natural, healthy immune response that can be reversed when the infection is fought.
A review in 2023 further developed the hypothesis He said nose picking may play a role in increasing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and could provide more information about how the process might develop.
According to this review led by researchers from Western Sydney University in Australia,olfactory system to represent “Given its direct anatomical connection to the brain and its role in the early stages of AD, it is a plausible route for pathogen entry.”
Of course, we still do not know for sure whether this hypothetical vector could explain the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in human patients; but perhaps we should still be wary of this possibility.
“Understanding the potential role of alfactory pathogen entry in AD-associated neuroinflammation opens new avenues for prevention.” the team wrote.
“Among all routes of entry, improving hand hygiene may be an easy prevention step, as learned from the report.” COVID-19 epidemic.
“One of the lessons learned from COVID-19 is the value of hand hygiene through frequent hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers, and we recommend that these routine hygiene procedures become mandatory routine procedures for incurable nose pickers.”
Related: The Cause of Alzheimer’s May Be Coming to Your Mouth
Alzheimer’s is an incredibly complex disease, lots of studies into it and many different angles Scientists are trying to understand this, but each study brings us closer to finding a way to stop it.
“Once you get over 65, your risk factor increases rapidly, but we’re also looking at other causes, because it’s not just age, it’s also environmental exposure.” St. John said.
“And we think bacteria and viruses are critical.”
The research was published on: Scientific Reports.
An earlier version of this article was published in November 2022.
