New Study Reveals Surprising Factor That May Increase Dementia Risk
As if getting sick wasn't already terrible in and of itself, infections may actually lead to an increased risk of dementia, according to a study published in Nature Aging.
What Infections May Increase Dementia Risk?
Influenza (the flu), herpes and various respiratory and skin infections were linked to an accelerated loss of brain volume later on, especially in the temporal lobe (which houses the hippocampus) — an area specifically linked to Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline. The study noted that there wasn't a difference between bacterial and viral infections in terms of brain health impact.
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The study, conducted with data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, also indicated that a history of infections overall was also correlated with an increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease, especially vascular dementia, The Washington Post reported.
It's important to note, however, that the patients studied had infections severe enough to warrant hospitalization — prior research published in The Lancet indicated that milder, more run-of-the-mill infections may increase risk by only two percent. That's well within a margin or error, and experts told The Washington Post that more research is necessary before any definitive links are drawn one way or the other.
Related: The Simple, At-Home Test for Early Dementia Detection
Why Might Infections Impact Brain Health?
The specific reasons for the correlation between dementia risk and infections aren't yet known, but the data in the new study points to one potential link: Participants with a history of infections displayed changes to 260 proteins tied to the immune system (out of a total of 942 proteins studied).
Some proteins are pathogenic (causing or leading to disease) and were linked to a loss of brain volume, while other proteins are protective. Those who have frequent infections may change protective proteins to pathogenic ones.
"You might be seeing a loss of protection, or some neuroprotection that was never there," Keenan Walker, study author and director of the Multimodal Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disease Unit at the National Institute on Aging told The Washington Post.
According to Walker, the severity of infections my have be a predictor of how they affect brain health, explaining simply, "Big infection, big immune response — not good for the brain."
Vaccines May Reduce Dementia Risk
The good news? There are efforts that can reduce your risk of "big infection" and subsequent "big immune response," and those start with vaccines.
COVID-19, flu, RSV and shingles vaccines can reduce the severity of those infections, which may, in turn, provide some protection for your brain against potential cognitive decline later. You can also protect yourself from infections (not just coronavirus variants!) through frequent handwashing and masking up in crowded settings.
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Sources
Duggan MR, Peng Z, Sipil? PN, et al. "Proteomics identifies potential immunological drivers of post-infection brain atrophy and cognitive decline." Nature Aging.
Muzambi, Rutendo et al. "Assessment of common infections and incident dementia using UK primary and secondary care data: a historical cohort study." The Lancet Healthy Longevity.
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