A recent study has identified a possible link between a runny nose and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s, the world’s leading form of dementia.
A study conducted by researchers from Griffith University (Australia) observed that Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in the olfactory nerve can promote invasion in the brain, in turn catalyzing the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of neurodegeneration, writes Mediafax.
This was observed in mice, but given that the DNA of this pathogen is detected in 80% of Alzheimer’s patients, it would not be surprising if there is a close link between the infection and dementia.
The olfactory nerve connects the external environment with the brain and can bypass the blood-brain barrier, the “shield” that protects the brain tissue from viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.
Picking the nose can damage the nasal cavities and encourage the proliferation of pathogens, which thus have a wide open path to the brain.
Research by the Department of Neuropathology at the Charité Institute in Berlin has shown that SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, can exploit nerve cells in the olfactory mucosa and ascend through the olfactory nerve to the brain, allowing it to to attack him.
Other Alzheimer’s-related pathogens, such as the bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae, can do the same.
In addition to Chlamydia pneumoniae, the researchers point out that other pathogens, such as the fungus Candida albicans and the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, can establish “persistent, latent or chronic infections in peripheral tissues, which include the nose. Here they can persist for a long time without triggering obvious symptoms, “until they penetrate the brain with pathological consequences”. How is it installed in the nose? One obvious way is rhinotillexomania, the scientific term experts call the compulsive habit of picking one’s nose. Everything that is found on the tips of the fingers and that has not been thoroughly sanitized is deposited in the nasal cavity and from there it can “travel” to the brain.
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2024-02-08 12:44:11
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