by Infection with the stomach bacteria Helicobacter pylori, found in two-thirds of the world’s population, increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 11 percent in people aged 50 and older, according to new research from the McGill University (Canada) published in ‘Alzheimer and Dementia: The Magazine of the Alzheimer’s Association’. Frequent infection with this bacteria can cause indigestion, gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer.
To reach this finding, a team of researchers analyzed health data from more than four million people in the United Kingdom aged 50 and over. between 1988 and 2019. While the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is multifaceted, the findings build on a growing body of evidence about the potential role of infections, particularly ‘H. Pylori’, in its development, reports Ep. The study opens avenues for future research, in particular to explore whether the eradication of this bacteria could effectively prevent this neurodegenerative pathology in some people.
Likewise, the data conclude that the increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease peaked at 24 percent a decade after the onset of infection by the bacteria. There were no significant effect modifications by age or sex.
Between the 4,262,092 subjects free of dementia analyzed, 40,455 developed the disease after an average of 11 years of follow-up and infection by ‘Helicobacter’ was committed to a higher risk of suffering from it. Salmonellosis is not associated with the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s disease affects millions of people worldwide and numbers are expected to rise sharply as demographics change, researchers say. «Given the aging of the world population, dementia figures are expected to they triple in the next 40 years. However, there remains a lack of effective treatment options for this disease,” says lead author of the study and professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill, Dr. Pablo Brassard.
“We hope that the findings of this research provide insight into the potential role of ‘H. pylori’ in dementia to inform the development of prevention strategies, such as individualized eradication programs, to reduce infections at the population level,” says the doctor brass.
