Infection with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study conducted by Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin and McGill University in Canada.
The research, which analyzed three decades of patient data, suggests that the risk of Alzheimer’s disease could be 11 percent higher on average in individuals over the age of 50 following a symptomatic H. pylori infection.
Moreover, the risk appears to increase to 24 percent more than a decade after the infection.
As the global population ages, dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is expected to become more prevalent, with the number of cases tripling in the next four decades.
With no cure available, scientists are focusing on identifying potential risk factors for dementia in the hope of developing targeted prevention strategies.
- pylori has long been suspected as a potential risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. This common gut microbe infects nearly one-third of the population in Germany.
While some infections are asymptomatic, H. pylori can also cause stomach lining inflammation and even stomach cancer.
Laboratory studies have suggested a connection between H. pylori infection and the central nervous system, leading to concerns that the bacterium may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
Professor Antonios Douros, a pharmacoepidemiologist at Charité and the study’s lead author, explained, “We know that the bacterium can reach the brain via various routes, potentially causing inflammation, damage, and the destruction of neurons there.”
Additionally, damage to the stomach caused by H. pylori can hinder the absorption of essential nutrients like Vitamin B12 and iron, further increasing the risk of dementia.
Previous studies on the link between H. pylori infection and Alzheimer’s disease had limitations due to small sample sizes.
The current study aimed to overcome these limitations with a representative sample of over four million people and a focus on the time interval between infection and potential Alzheimer’s risk. The researchers used electronic patient records from the UK to assess the connection between H. pylori and Alzheimer’s disease over a person’s lifetime.
The study found that symptomatic H. pylori infections in individuals over the age of 50 were associated with an 11 percent increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The risk peaked at 24 percent approximately a decade after the initial infection.
It’s important to note that not everyone who experiences a symptomatic infection will develop Alzheimer’s disease. These calculations compare the relative risk to those who did not experience symptomatic H. pylori infections after the age of 50.
The findings suggest that H. pylori infection could be a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
However, the researchers caution against hasty efforts to eradicate this gut microbe, as it remains unclear whether doing so would directly impact the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Any such intervention would need rigorous testing in large-scale randomized studies before implementation.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about Vitamin D deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, and Oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and results showing flavonoid-rich foods could improve survival in Parkinson’s disease.
The research findings can be found in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
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