Stomach bug in quarter of population may raise risk of Alzheimer’s

ONE in four people people are carrying a stomach bug that may raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a study suggests.

Researchers at Mcgill University in Montreal, looked at the health records of more than four million Britons and found people with symptomatic infection from Helicobacter pylori had an 11 per cent higher risk of Alzheimer’s.

The increased risk of developing the condition peaked at 24 per cent, between seven and 10 years after an infection, before dropping off again.

The bacterium is found in contaminated food, water and soil and can also be easily passed from person to person via bodily fluids.

Around 40 per cent of people in the UK carry the bug in the sticky mucus of their stomachs but for the majority it does not cause any problems.

However, about 15 per cent will get a symptomatic infection that can lead to stomach pains, nausea, weight loss and ulcers.

Experts say they cannot prove the infection drives the increased risk of Alzheimer’s but have speculated that the bug might travel to the brain, ‘Our findings will help develop prevention strategies to reduce infections’

leading to inflammation of cells and neurodegeneration.

It may also disrupt the gut microbiome, leading to the overproduction of amyloid – the sticky protein that clumps together in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, stopping brain cells from communicating, they suggest.

The team estimates that eradicating the bug could prevent around 200,000 cases of Alzheiemer’s globally each year.

“We hope the findings will provide insight on the potential role of H. pylori in dementia in order to inform the development of prevention strategies, such as individualised eradication programmes, to reduce infections at the population level,” said Dr Paul Brassard, the study’s senior author and a professor in Mcgill’s department of medicine.

“Given the global ageing population, dementia numbers are expected to triple in the next 40 years. However, there remains a lack of effective treatments.”

There are estimated to be 944,000 people living with dementia in Britain, with the majority suffering from Alzheimer’s. The number is expected to increase to more than one million by 2030, with one in three people born in the UK this year expected to develop dementia in their lifetime.

The condition costs the country £34.7 billion annually and is now the leading cause of death, but current drugs can only help symptoms, not slow the disease’s rate of progression.

The new research was published in