As we all strive to be health long into our old age, we are frequently reminded of the importance of good ‘brain health’ as our best defence against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
These two conditions, which affect memory and our ability to communicate and undertake daily tasks, are worrying to say the least.
Alzheimer’s Disease causes cognitive decline, and is the most common cause of dementia – with numerous risk factors at play including age, genetics, mental health conditions, and lifestyle factors.
For many, avoiding these conditions in our later years is a priority. Doctors advise a range of precautionary measures, including eating healthy and exercising frequently, staying mentally active and getting enough sleep, staying social and limiting alcohol, drugs, and smoking.
These precautions are important, since the conditions cannot be cured; there are simply treatments available to ease symptoms.
But in a revolutionary new study, researchers from a huge team spread across the US, Europe, and Australia have made some groundbreaking discoveries which could signal a potential cure on the horizon.
In their work, the research team have discovered specific microbiomes in the brain that could be fundamental to whether or not a person develops Alzheimer’s Disease.
And understanding that could be the key to curing the condition before a person’s cognitive ability declines.
This research began when Nikki Schultek, a scientist from North Carolina, developed a wide array of debilitating symptoms in her early thirties. It took a long time to gain a diagnosis since – despite the vast array of medical tests and scans she underwent – her symptoms suggested a degenerative brain condition, but none could be detected.
Ultimately, it was discovered, Schultek was suffering from an infection caused by a kind of bacteria in her brain.
Thus, her research began. In her co-authored paper, which was recently published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia, the team documented numerous case studies of people who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, before tests indicated that they too had some kind of infection in their brain.
The story for many of those patients was positive after this discovery. That’s because the majority of cases saw considerable improvements after the bacteria causing the infection was treated – with some even being able to return to work.
In an interview with UK newspaper The Guardian, the University of Edinburgh’s Professor Richard Lathe, who co-authored the paper, explained how it was by chance that the infection was detected in the patients whose case studies they explored. Thus, it follows that it was only by chance that these people were lucky enough to effectively have their conditions cured:
“They were by accident found to be suffering from various fungal, bacterial or viral infections, and when they treated the patient with antifungals, antivirals or antibiotics, the dementia went away.”
As part of the consortium of researchers that Shultek is leading, Lathe is exploring the microbes that live in the brain to fully understand what should and shouldn’t be there, and how the invading species can be treated.
In their research, the team have detailed several common bacterial or viral infections that were common to the brains of these patients. In doing so, they hope to understand what percentage of dementias are caused by such infections, with their hypothesis being that at least 50% of sufferers could be cured with antibacterial or antiviral treatment.
And given the commonalities that they’ve found, everything is looking positive, as Lathe continued:
“We saw an overabundance of several microbes – the major ones are species such as Streptococcus and Staphylococcus in the bacteria, and in the yeasts it’s things like Candida and Cryptococcus, which are all well known to cause diverse pathologies in humans.”
Though the research is still ongoing, it has all the marks of a promising future cure, at least for dementia that is caused by an infection.
But if you want to prevent cognitive decline in the meantime, there’s plenty you can do: as well as staying healthy and active, it’s important to keep the brain stimulated – whether you do so by reading, learning new things, or completing puzzles – it is a muscle after all, one that needs frequent flexing if it is to stay strong.
And given the evidence of these conditions being caused by bacterial and viral infections, there is a new piece of advice too: keep your vaccinations up to date, and wash your hands regularly, taking precautions to avoid infections anywhere in or on your body, as much as possible.
Stay healthy now, and your brain will thank you later.
If you liked that story, check out this one about a 72-year-old woman was told by her life insurance company that her policy was worthless because she’d paid for 40 years. 🙁