Helicobacter Pylori Infection: Link to Dementia and Alzheimer’s Risk – 24vita

2024-01-23 20:51:11

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As of: January 23, 2024, 11:49 a.m

By: Juliane Gutmann

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The bacterial species Helicobacter pylori promotes inflammation in the stomach and intestines. Researchers found that infection can also promote dementia.

Almost every second person worldwide is infected with this type of bacteria Helicobacter pylori infected. As the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) further informs, most people become infected with the pathogen, which can cause enormous damage to the stomach, in the first few years of life. Infections cause, among other things, chronic inflammation of the gastric mucosa. In around 15 percent of those infected, this leads to stomach ulcers, and in one to two percent it even leads to stomach cancer, according to the DZIF. Doctors diagnose one Helicobacter pylori-Infection, They usually initiate antibiotic therapy.

Anyone who thinks that an infection with the bacterium always results in symptoms is wrong. 80 percent of all people with one Helicobacter pylori-Infection does not show any signs of illness like that Internists on the Internet inform. If symptoms occur, they may include the following complaints, such as the specialist portal Iinternists online and the Gastrointestinal League Switzerland write:

• Indigestion
• (Chronic) inflammation of the stomach lining with stomach pain, nausea and possibly vomiting, epigastric pain, stomach burning, belching, decreased appetite and feeling of fullness
• Stomach or duodenal ulcers (in about ten percent of those infected)

Bacterial infection increases the risk of Alzheimer’s

Not only the stomach and intestines, but also the nerves can get through Helicobacter pylori to be attacked. Researchers recently found a connection between the bacterial infection and Alzheimer’s dementia.

What is Alzheimer’s?

This is the most common form of dementia. Those affected suffer from an incurable brain disorder, which is associated with the death of nerve cells in the brain. As a result, forgetfulness, confusion and disorientation occur, such as Alzheimer’s Research Initiative informed.

Researchers from the Berlin Charité and Canada’s McGill University conducted a study to investigate whether an infection can occur Helicobacter pylori increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. They concluded that this is indeed the case in people over 50 years old. In a press release from the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Prof. Antonios Douros, pharmacoepidemiologist at the Charité and first author of the study, is quoted: “Our study shows that symptomatic infections with Helicobacter pylori After the age of 50, this can be associated with an eleven percent increased risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. The risk increase reaches its maximum value of 24 percent about a decade after infection.”

An infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori manifests itself, for example, in upper abdominal pain. © Imago

However, this does not mean that every person with symptoms will inevitably develop Alzheimer’s after an infection. The calculations show an increase in the relative risk compared to people who have not had a symptomatic infection after the age of 50, the press release continues.

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More information about the study „Clinically apparent Helicobacter pylori infection and the risk of incident Alzheimer‘s disease: A population-based nested case-control study“

Release date: December 13, 2023

Published in the specialist journal Alzheimer‘s & Dementia

Scope: Analysis of data from over four million people

Study authors: Canadian-German research team led by Dr. Antonios Douros, Heisenberg Professor at the Institute for Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Charité, and Dr. Paul Brassard, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University in Montreal (Canada)

This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.